HONG KONG — China announced the removal of Gen. Li Shangfu as defense minister Tuesday, the latest ousting of a senior leader in the country who had disappeared from public view with little explanation.
Li and former Foreign Minister Qin Gang were also stripped of their titles as state councilors Tuesday, according to state broadcaster CCTV, a rare move to ax officials from the inner circle of the ruling Communist Party.
Li was fired almost two months after his absence sparked widespread speculation and three months after Qin — a former ambassador to the U.S. who was once seen as a fast-rising protégé of President Xi Jinping — was himself axed under mysterious circumstances. It also follows a recent shake-up at the head of the country’s nuclear forces.
Beijing is grappling with economic troubles and spiraling tensions with the U.S. It was unclear whether the turmoil at the top would signal any shift in policy or instead reflect a deepening crackdown on corruption and perceived disloyalty.
“Ultimately, the supremacy of the party over state is what Xi Jinping has been focusing on,” said Alexander Neill, a Singapore-based strategic adviser on Asia-Pacific geopolitics, as the country’s State Council now loses two members.
“It’s absolutely a hallmark of his distillation of power and control in China,” he said.
Qin’s replacement, Wang Yi, is heading to Washington this week to meet with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan, paving the way for a potential first meeting between Xi and President Joe Biden in a year.
No explanation was given for the pair’s removal, as is the norm in the country’s governance. It came after a vote by China’s top lawmakers, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, which opted to leave Li’s position vacant.
Although Li held the title of defense minister, his role was more ceremonial than that of U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
“The People’s Liberation Army is not like the United States. It is not a military which is under the command of the presidency. It is accountable to the Communist Party leadership,” Neill said.
Nonetheless, Li, an aerospace engineer and military general, was a high-profile figure in Xi’s government.
Neill said Li’s removal could mean that the U.S. may now finally end up having direct dialogue with the top brass of the Chinese military itself. The Defense Department said in May that China had declined its request for a meeting between Li and Austin at a security forum in Singapore.
Li, who became defense secretary in March as Xi began an unprecedented third term in office, had not been seen in public since Aug. 29.
A series of reports in Western media, including The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal, suggested he was under investigation of allegations of corruption and was about to be removed.
NBC News has not confirmed those details.
The duo’s removal from the center of government power virtually ends their political careers. Little is known, however, about their whereabouts or whether they will be prosecuted.
Li also remains sanctioned by Washington over his role in China’s 2017 purchase of Russian weapons. At the time, China expressed “strong indignation” at the move, calling it “unreasonable” and “a mistake.”
