The Chinese Minister of Defense was removed from his position
Without any explanation for the decision, the Chinese Central Broadcasting Corporation reported that the Chinese government had dismissed General Li Changfu from the position of Minister of Defense, in the second change of leadership in the country within three months.
This came after weeks of speculation about the fate of the general, who is subject to US sanctions, and hasn’t appeared in public since the end of August.
The decision to dismiss him was approved by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress.
General Li Changfu is the second minister to be suddenly removed since Xi Jinping began his unprecedented third term as party leader last October, and before that, Qin Zhang was replaced as Foreign Minister in July, by Wang Yi, after a similar unjustified withdrawal from public engagements.
Meanwhile, the reason of the dismissal is still unknown.
Both Chinese ministers were also removed from their posts of state advisers on Tuesday, a senior position in the Cabinet with a higher rank than ordinary ministers.
The announcement came just days before a Pentagon delegation arrived in Beijing to attend a regional security forum, paving the way for a long-stalled high-level military dialogue between the two sides.
Unlike their counterparts in the West, Chinese foreign and defense ministers are primarily policy enforcers, not senior decision-makers.
