China sacks missing Defence Minister

Beijing: After keeping mum for nearly two months, China on Tuesday formally sacked its missing defence minister Gen. Li Shangfu who met the same fate as his former Cabinet colleague and foreign minister Qin Gang whose whereabouts are not yet known.

On Tuesday, China also removed Finance Minister Liu Kun and appointed Lan Fo’an in his place. Liu is the third senior Cabinet minister to be replaced without any explanation.

Before the promotion, Lan became the Communist Party chief of the finance ministry in late September.

Another official announcement said the National People’s Congress removed minister of science and technology, Wang Zhigang and appointed Yin Hejun in his place.

Wang had served as the deputy minister of science and technology since July 2012 and became the minister of science and technology in March 2018. Again no reasons were given for his removal.

Gen Li, 65, was removed from the posts of State Councillor and national defence minister, and Qin Gang was removed from the post of State Councillor, according to a decision adopted by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on Tuesday, the official media here reported.No successor for Li has been announced so far.

The NPC sacked Qin in July and re-appointed Wang Yi, currently a member of the Political Bureau of the ruling Communist Party of China, as Foreign Minister.

Earlier, Qin succeeded Wang as Foreign Minister. Like Qin, Gen Li was abruptly removed without an explanation.

Significantly, both of them were close confidants of President Xi Jinping who picked them up for high posts overlooking several seniors both in foreign and defence ministries.