China appoints new defence minister to replace ousted Li Shangfu

BEIJING: China named former navy chief Dong Jun as its new defence minister on Friday (Dec 29), filling a vacancy created by the removal of Li Shangfu in October.

The appointment comes as President Xi Jinping upgrades the military as part of his push to make China a dominant world power, a goal that has alarmed many neighbours.

Dong, 62, was appointed at a meeting of the standing committee of China's National People's Congress, state news agency Xinhua said.

The role of China's defence minister is to be the public face of the People's Liberation Army in its engagement with the media and with other armed forces.

A crucial element of his job is to engage with the United States military to lower the risk of conflict over Taiwan and the South China Sea, two flashpoints to which Dong is no stranger.

Before becoming the People's Liberation Army Navy chief and made a full general in 2021, he was vice commander of the East Sea Fleet, the backbone of what is now the Eastern Theatre Command - the main force responsible for fighting over Taiwan, a self-ruled island China considers its own.

He also served as vice commander of the Southern Theatre Command which operates in the disputed South China Sea, most of which is claimed by China.

"Dong would be familiar with managing near-encounters between the Chinese and US military. This is useful when he has to manage crises between both militaries," said Li Mingjiang, an international relations scholar at the Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.

Wen-Ti Sung, political scientist and non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council's Global China Hub, said the selection of Dong could be a sign that purges are ongoing in the Rocket Force and Equipment Development Department.

The two preceding defence ministers, who came from these two forces, have since disappeared from public view.

Beijing has not explained Li's disappearance but stripped him of his title as defence minister and state councillor in October.

Li had headed the department in charge of equipment procurement and research before taking up the defence minister job in March. He has not been seen in public since Aug 25.

Reuters cited sources to report that Li was under investigation for corruption related to equipment procurement and development.

During his brief tenure as minister, Li did not meet his US counterpart - Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin. The ministry explained that Washington would have to first remove the sanctions it placed on Li in 2018 over his role in purchasing Russian aircraft and equipment.

Dong would face no such constraint, as he is not known to be under US sanctions.

When President Joe Biden and Xi met in San Francisco last month, both leaders agreed to resume senior military talks that were suspended following then-House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan in August 2022.

SURPRISE PROMOTION

Dong, born in 1961, was made commander of the navy in August 2021.

He was replaced by Hu Zhongming earlier this month.

His promotion comes as a surprise, however.

Many analysts had expected Liu Zhenli, a 59-year-old general and head of China's joint staff department, to become the new defence minister.

He notably spoke last week with his American counterpart during the first high-level call in more than a year between military personnel from the two leading world powers.

That followed an agreement by President Joe Biden and Xi at a summit last month to restore military communications between their two countries.

Biden at the time said the move was "critically important" to avoid possible conflicts.

But that summit also saw Xi warn the US president against supplying further arms to Taiwan, insisting China's reunification with the island was "unstoppable".

WIDER PURGE

In a possible sign of a wider purge, nine senior military officials were removed from China's top legislative body, Xinhua reported, citing a separate Friday announcement from the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.

These include former People's Liberation Army (PLA) Rocket Force chief Li Yuchao who was abruptly replaced in July, his predecessor Zhou Yaning, two other rocket force officials, two officials from the PLA equipment development department, deputy chief of the Joint Staff Department Zhang Zhenzhong and ex-Air Force commander Ding Laihang.

Zhou headed the Rocket Force between 2017 and 2022. Zhang was deputy commander of the PLA Rocket Force between 2016 and March 2022, where he overlapped with Li Yuchao. He previously held commander or deputy commander roles at two satellite launch sites and a space launch site.

Three executives at state-owned missile defence firms were also stripped of their membership of a ceremonial political advisory body on Wednesday.

China's defence ministry vowed to "crack down on every corrupt official" in August when asked about the whereabouts of Li's predecessor, Wei Fenghe - its first reference to corruption probes among top military leaders following a major shake-up of the armed force overseeing China's nuclear and conventional missile arsenal.

The US Department of Defense has been in touch with China at the working level about a sequence of upcoming engagements, Pentagon spokesperson John Supple said on Friday, adding the two sides are working to implement what Biden and Xi announced in November.

"These kinds of engagements take time to schedule and prepare for on both sides so that defense and military leaders from our two countries – including at the senior-most levels – can have substantive conversations with their appropriate counterparts," Supple said.

Defense Policy Coordination Talks in January and Military Maritime Consultative Agreement talks in early 2024 are in the planning stages, he added.