China’s Foreign Ministry on Friday skirted questions on the whereabouts of the country’s defense minister, amid mounting speculation the recently promoted general has been placed under investigation.
China’s Foreign Ministry on Friday skirted questions on the whereabouts of the country’s defense minister, amid mounting speculation the recently promoted general has been placed under investigation.
Li Shangfu, who was appointed defense minister in March, has been absent from public view for more than two weeks, fueling rumors about his fate after a series of unexplained personnel shakeups roiled the upper ranks of China’s ruling Communist Party this summer.
Questions over Li’s whereabouts follow the unexplained disappearance of Qin Gang, who was dramatically ousted as China’s foreign minister in late July after vanishing from public view for a month.
In July, the People’s Liberation Army abruptly replaced two leaders of its Rocket Force – an elite military branch overseeing the nation’s arsenal of nuclear and ballistic missiles.
The disappearance of two high-profile ministers in quick succession has raised questions about the governance of leader Xi Jinping, who has made China’s political system even more opaque as he concentrates power and enforces strict party discipline.
They have been potentially removed without any explanation or any consideration for global perception,” Drew Thompson, a senior research fellow at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, told CNN Friday.
The original article contains 783 words, the summary contains 203 words. Saved 74%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
China’s Foreign Ministry on Friday skirted questions on the whereabouts of the country’s defense minister, amid mounting speculation the recently promoted general has been placed under investigation.
Li Shangfu, who was appointed defense minister in March, has been absent from public view for more than two weeks, fueling rumors about his fate after a series of unexplained personnel shakeups roiled the upper ranks of China’s ruling Communist Party this summer.
Questions over Li’s whereabouts follow the unexplained disappearance of Qin Gang, who was dramatically ousted as China’s foreign minister in late July after vanishing from public view for a month.
In July, the People’s Liberation Army abruptly replaced two leaders of its Rocket Force – an elite military branch overseeing the nation’s arsenal of nuclear and ballistic missiles.
The disappearance of two high-profile ministers in quick succession has raised questions about the governance of leader Xi Jinping, who has made China’s political system even more opaque as he concentrates power and enforces strict party discipline.
They have been potentially removed without any explanation or any consideration for global perception,” Drew Thompson, a senior research fellow at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, told CNN Friday.
The original article contains 783 words, the summary contains 203 words. Saved 74%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!