Intrigue builds over China’s missing defence minister

China has remained tight-lipped about reports that its defence minister has been removed from office, neither confirming nor denying that he is the latest in a succession of senior figures to be pushed aside.

Li Shangfu, who took up his position last March, has not been seen for more than two weeks, fuelling speculation about his whereabouts. The Financial Times reported early on Friday that United States officials believed he was placed under investigation and the Wall Street Journal said he was taken away last week for questioning. Reuters reported later that Mr Li was under investigation for corruption and is likely to be removed from office.

Citing sources in the Chinese defence industry, the news agency said the allegations of corruption were related to his previous role as head of military procurement. Two months ago, the Chinese authorities made a public call for information about abuses of the procurement system for private gain dating back to 2017, the year Mr Li took charge of the unit responsible for it.

The leadership of China’s Rocket Force, responsible for conventional and nuclear missiles, was removed in July after its commander had not been seen in public for weeks. Foreign minister Qin Gang disappeared the same month and was replaced a few weeks later after just seven months in the position.

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Both Li and Qin are among five state councillors appointed by Xi Jinping who outrank other government ministers. US ambassador to Japan Rahm Emmanuel said this week that Mr Xi’s cabinet “is now resembling Agatha Christie’s novel And Then There Were None.

Asked about Mr Li’s fate at a regular press briefing on Friday, foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said, “I’m not aware of the situation.” The question and her answer did not appear in the official transcript of the briefing.

Mr Li was sanctioned by the US in 2018 over arms imports from Russia and as defence minister he refused to meet American officials until the sanctions were lifted. When US defence secretary Lloyd Austin sought a meeting with Mr Li at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore last June, he had to make do with a handshake.

Since Mr Xi took office in 2012, he has launched a number of high-profile campaigns against corruption which have led to the arrest of thousands of senior officials. But China’s defence budget has ballooned in recent years and private contractors have made huge profits supplying the People’s Liberation Army.

Li was last seen in Beijing on August 29th during a China-Africa Peace and Security Forum and last week he pulled out of a meeting with Vietnamese defence leaders, citing a health condition. Mr Qin’s disappearance was also initially put down to health reasons.

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“As Shakespeare wrote in Hamlet, ‘Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.’ 1st: Defense Minister Li Shangfu hasn’t been seen or heard from in 3 weeks. 2nd: He was a no-show for his trip to Vietnam. Now: He’s absent from his scheduled meeting with the Singaporean Chief of Navy because he was placed on house arrest???… Might be getting crowded in there,” Mr Emmanuel said on Friday in a post on X, the website formerly known as Twitter.