Pic Courtesy: Internet
Xi Jinping, China’s commander-in-chief missed the G-20 summit in India. It is the first time that he has skipped the global leaders’ gathering in his decade in power. One of the possible reasons could be the focus on internal issues.
General Li Shangfu, China’s defence minister, was last seen in public on 29 Aug at a China-Africa security forum in Beijing. He conspicuously didn’t show up to an international meeting he was expected to attend in early September, Chinese officials covered it up saying it was due to a “health condition.” Several scheduled meetings between Li and foreign defence officials have been cancelled, with the status of future meetings uncertain.
Li’s mysterious absence follows the similar disappearance of China’s former foreign minister Qin Gang, who was last seen in public on June 25 before being unceremoniously replaced from his post. Qin was also initially said to be facing unspecified “health issues” and he has still not reappeared in public. Last month two of China’s top Rocket Force generals in charge of the nuclear arsenal were replaced, in what was interpreted as an attempt to break patronage networks in the important PLA division.
Two high-profile ministers have gone missing without explanation in a matter of months, underscores the opacity and unpredictability of China’s internal politics. Such a dramatic upheaval among the highest ranks of the Chinese Communist Party is quite unusual. Government officials are extensively vetted before appointments and promotions to ensure stability, and Li and Qin had just been elevated to the State Council, the country’s top administrative body, earlier this year.
The disappearance of China’s defence minister, the latest in a string of upheavals in the country’s top ranks, is stoking a lot of speculative uncertainties.
Li’s Appointment