China’s Top Defense Official Disappears From Public View

China's Defense Minister Li Shangfu delivers a speech during the 20th Shangri-La Dialogue summit in Singapore on June 4, 2023. Roslan Rahman/AFP via Getty Images

Chinese Defense Minister Gen. Li Shangfu has not been publicly seen for the past two weeks, fueling discussions on social media about his whereabouts and the Chinese Communist Party’s power struggles.

As of Wednesday, Gen. Li hasn’t been heard from publicly for 15 days. His last public appearance was on Aug. 29, when he addressed a security forum and held talks with visiting defense ministers from Ghana, Zambia, and several other African countries.

The absence of the public face of the regime’s military recalled the disappearance of former Foreign Minister Qin Gang, the protégé of Chinese leader Xi Jinping. On July 25, Mr. Qin was abruptly replaced after disappearing from public view for 30 days. No reason was provided in the brief official statement issued by state media.

Shortly after his dismissal, the foreign ministry erased nearly all of Mr. Qin’s profile and public engagements from its website. While some of the mentions reappeared on the ministry’s official page later, Mr. Qin has not made any public appearances since June. 

As mysteries around the diplomat deepened, Mr. Xi, on July 31, removed two top commanders he appointed to oversee the country’s nuclear arsenal unit. Gen. Li Yuchao, the head of the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Rocket Force, and the military unit’s political commissar, Gen. Xu Zhongbo, had not appeared on state media for months when their successor was announced without fanfare. The reason for their dismissal and their current whereabouts are unknown.

Rahm Emanuel, the U.S. ambassador to Japan, commented on the recent shake-up in Mr. Xi’s political and military leadership.

“President Xi’s cabinet lineup is now resembling Agatha Christie’s novel And Then There Were None. First, Foreign Minister Qin Gang goes missing, then the Rocket Force commanders go missing, and now Defense Minister Li Shangfu hasn’t been seen in public for two weeks,” Mr. Emanuel wrote on X on Sept. 7.

Comparing the growing list of missing officials to China’s record-high youth unemployment rate, Mr. Emanuel mused: “Who’s going to win this unemployment race? China’s youth or Xi’s cabinet? #MysteryInBeijingBuilding.”

The disappearance of Gen. Li Shangfu sparked a frenzy of speculation on overseas social media, with some claiming that he was placed under investigation.

“Li Shangfu may have been placed under investigation for suspected corruption and serious violations of discipline,” China observer Cai Shenkun wrote in a social media post on Sept. 7, calling the claim “unconfirmed.”

However, if the claim turns out to be true, Mr. Cai noted it would mark the fall of another cabinet-level official, indicating that “the infighting at the [CCP’s] top level didn’t end.” Even Mr. Xi’s handpicked officials could be “purged at any time.” Just like the tumultuous decades under Mao Zedong, “no one is safe,” he added.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken walks with China's then-Foreign Minister Qin Gang ahead of a meeting at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on June 18, 2023. Leah Millis/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

The Chinese authorities remain tight-lipped on the situation.

When asked about the defense minister at the briefing on Sept. 11, foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning replied, “I’m not aware of the situation you mentioned.”

Xi ‘Is Very Afraid of a Coup’

Yao Cheng—a former lieutenant colonel in China’s Navy Command and currently living in exile in the United States—told The Epoch Times that Gen. Li could have been “taken away” by authorities.

He pointed to a July notice issued by the Central Military Commission, which stated that authorities were collecting tips about corruption in the equipment procurement system. The commission explained what constitutes inappropriate conduct in the guidelines, such as giving contracts to companies of officials’ friends or families and leaking confidential information about projects. Most notably, investigators are looking into disciplinary violations that started in October 2017.

In September 2017, Gen. Li was appointed to head the Equipment Development Department, a branch under the Central Military Commission responsible for weapons procurement. He served as the department’s director for six years before being promoted to defense minister in March this year.

Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin during his visit to Moscow on April 16, 2023. Pavel Bednyakov/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images

Mr. Yao said he learned from several military sources that the regulators had “launched an inquiry regarding equipment purchase when Li Shangfu was in office.”

The probe was part of the anti-corruption campaign led by paramount leader Mr. Xi, who is also the chairman of the Central Military Commission, according to Mr. Yao.

Political insiders and media reports have linked the replacement of two senior commanders of the Rocket Force to a corruption investigation. Some political insiders told The Epoch Times that the fall of the former foreign minister was also triggered by alleged leaked military secrets involving the Rocket Force.

Citing his sources, Mr. Yao said 11 senior officials at the Roket Force have been purged, though there was no official announcement.

Last month, the defense ministry declared “zero tolerance” for corruption. The warning was delivered at a regular press briefing when asked about the Rocket Force’s recent reshuffle and the whereabouts of the former defense minister, Wei Fenghe, who has been missing from public view since he stepped down from the post during a regular reshuffle in March. Gen. Wei headed the Rocket Force from 2015 to 2017.

“We will investigate every case and crack down on every corrupt official,” defense ministry spokesman Wu Qian said on Aug. 31. “The Chinese military governs according to the law, and shows zero tolerance [for] corruption.”

Mr. Yao said the recent shake-up of the political and military leadership indicates that Mr. Xi felt his hold on power in the military was unstable.

“Xi Jinping is very afraid of a coup,” he noted.

Li Yun contributed to this report.