Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu in Singapore on June 2, 2023. CAROLINE CHIA / REUTERS
One of the ministers had not been seen in public since last August.
China dismissed its Defense Minister on Tuesday, October 24, and ousted from the government its former Foreign Minister, who was relieved of his duties in July but who still held the higher title of State Councilor. Li Shangfu, in office since March, was “dismissed» from his position at the Defense Ministry, state television CCTV reported, citing a decision by the standing committee of the National People’s Congress.
Unexplained absence
The channel gave no reason for the dismissal and did not put forward any name for his successor. His last public appearance was on August 29. Li Shangfu had visited Russia and Belarus a few weeks earlier, in mid-August. Qin Gang, considered close to President Xi Jinping, is “sacked» from the State Council, the equivalent of the Chinese government, CCTV said.
After an unexplained absence of a month, the now former Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs 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).
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