Former Chinese defence minister Wei Fenghe’s absence from Lunar New Year greetings list raises questions over fate
Wei’s successor as defence minister Li Shangfu was abruptly sacked and stripped of his rank as State Councillor with no explanation offered later in the year.
China removes 9 PLA generals from top legislature in sign of wider purge
The current Defence Minister Dong Jun, a former head of the navy, has yet to be named as a state councillor or given a place on the top military decision-making body, the Central Military Commission (CMC), as all previous defence ministers have been.
State councillor appointments are the responsibility of the legislature, the National People’s Congress, which will meet in March and a place on the CMC would have to be confirmed at the next plenary session of the Communist Party’s Central Committee at a date to be confirmed.
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North Korea says Travis King wants refuge from US Army mistreatment
However, the situation has prompted speculation that President Xi Jinping’s overhaul of the top ranks of the PLA is still ongoing.
Wei held a number of senior posts relating to the PLA’s nuclear arsenal and became the first head of the rocket force when it was formed in 2015 as part of a major military overhaul.
Leading scientist crucial to China’s space efforts to be expelled from top body
There was no reason given for their disqualification as NPC representatives, but such a move usually leads to further action as delegates enjoy immunity from being arrested or investigated for criminal charges.
The military has been one of the main targets of Xi’s far-reaching anti-corruption campaign. Two of the most prominent targets to have fallen were Guo Boxiong and Xu Caihou, both former vice chairmen of the CMC. Guo was jailed for life for bribery in 2016, while Xu died of cancer in 2015 while facing court martial.