Being a minister in China means living on an ejector chair… and under a sword of Damocles. The Beijing-style hammer and anvil. New demonstration this Tuesday, where the country carried out a vast ministerial reorganization, notably dismissing its Minister of Defense, Li Shangfu. A total no surprise, given that the latter had not appeared in public since August 29, after a short stay in Russia.
He was put in office in March, and will therefore have spent a mandate with as many months “disappeared into thin air” as in office. The government gave no reason for the dismissal and did not put forward any name for his successor. In September, the American ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel, declared on social networks that the minister had “not been seen or heard from in three weeks”.
Change at the head of the nuclear arsenal
This dismissal of the Minister of Defense comes after a reshuffle at the head of the Chinese army unit in charge of strategic missiles, particularly nuclear ones. In July, China announced that it would provide this unit with new management without justifying this change, while the media reported a corruption investigation involving its former head, who had not been seen in public for weeks.
China took the opportunity to formalize another “dismissal” on Tuesday, that of its former Minister of Foreign Affairs. It is therefore official: Qin Gang, considered close to President Xi Jinping, is no longer part of the State Council, the equivalent of the Chinese government;
Disappearances lasting several weeks before revocations
After an unexplained absence of a month, Qin Gang was relieved of his duties in July, a surprise decision for which the authorities gave no justification. He has since been replaced in this position by his predecessor Wang Yi, who is currently the real boss of Chinese diplomacy, as the highest official of diplomatic relations within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
On Tuesday, China also announced the departure of its Minister of Science and Technology, Wang Zhigang, as well as the Minister of Finance, Liu Kun. They are replaced respectively by Yin Hejun, until then secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) at the Ministry of Science and Technology, and his counterpart at the Ministry of Finance, Lan Fo’an.