The disappearance of Li Changfu, the former leader of the Chinese army, has sparked discussions and speculation. He was later charged with corruption and removed from office, but his case is just one example in a series of purges in the Chinese government under Xi Jinping’s claim to fight corruption. However, due to the lack of transparency, it is difficult to determine the true reasons behind these actions. Li was the Minister of Defense of China and his disappearance raised concerns about the prevalence of corruption in the Chinese military. The Chinese government has provided no explanations for these disappearances and expulsions, leading to various speculations and rumors. Corruption in the military has been an ongoing issue, with high-ranking officials being involved in corrupt practices. The lack of transparency makes it hard to discern the extent of Xi’s crackdown on corruption and whether it is genuine or simply a way to consolidate power. Xi aims to modernize the military by 2027 and wants it to be under the control of the Chinese Communist Party. However, the true motivations behind the purges remain unclear due to China’s political opacity.
The case of the disappearance of the main leader of the Chinese army, Li Changfu, has become a topic of discussion. He was later charged in a corruption case and was removed from office. But Li Changfu was just one person in a wave of purges in the Chinese government. by Xi Jinping who claims that corruption is used to attack But due to the lack of transparency, people can only guess whether it is true because of corruption or not.
Li Changfu, Minister of Defense of China | Image source: wikipedia
Chinese Defense Minister Li Changfu had been missing for several weeks before. An investigation is currently being carried out for corruption and he has been suspended from his post. This is something that happens a lot in China. of the presence of other official officials was made to disappear from the public Before that there was news that they had been expelled from their posts
It has been noted by Vox media that the purging of people in the government is under the pretext of fighting corruption. This is not new under President Xi Jinping. Those who have created an image of themselves as the ones to stop the corruption that is spreading in the Chinese government, especially in the Chinese army.
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But when Xi Jinping creates this image It turned out to show that Although he tried to create an image of how much oppression there was, But acts of wrongdoing are still committed by those who are at the highest levels of government and by some of the most visible people of the People’s Army (PLA) Want to modernize the army
Li’s tenure was very short. He was appointed to the post in March 2023 and disappeared from public view soon after appointing two officers from China’s military missile force to replace his predecessor in March. In the past, there has been very little transparency in the machinery. China’s political system and has often been compared to a “black box”. The lack of transparency of the Chinese government is even more troubling.
Media outlets such as the Financial Times and Wall Street Journal, citing US officials, reported that Li was expelled from his post on September 15, the same day Mao Ning. A spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry did not say anything about Li’s disappearance or his ouster. He told reporters that he was not informed of the situation.
The Chinese government has no intention of providing any solutions. about the disappearances and expulsion of high-ranking officials in recent months It has become something that leads to various speculations and rumours. both within China and globally
As Li holds the position of Minister of Defense of China. He ordered no war or battle. But he will play a more diplomatic role. By communicating with the defense ministers of other countries Or in the case of the United States, the person who refused to answer the phone call from Lloyd Austin, the Secretary of Defense of the United States. After a dispute over Chinese balloons flying over US airspace in February 2023
Rahm Emanuel, the US Ambassador’s office in Japan reported on September 8 that Li had disappeared. By posting on Twitter saying “He has not been seen in public for two weeks,” with Li’s last public appearance on August 29 at the China-Africa security summit. that he was the main speaker at the event
Has corruption become an ingrained culture in the Chinese military?
Li’s case is the latest in a series of Chinese officials expelling military personnel from their posts. Before Li became Defense Minister he previously served as Director General of the Armed Forces Development Department (EDD) of the Central Committee of the Chinese Armed Forces. This is the agency that oversees the Chinese People’s Army, and as Director General of the EDD, Li trained as an aeronautical engineer. He oversees the procurement of equipment and infrastructure for the military departments.
Last July, Bloomberg media reported that the department where Li was director general is under investigation for corruption dating back to 2017, as the matter overlapped with Li’s time as director general. It is unclear whether Li was actually involved in the corruption that occurred at the time. And we may never know for sure on this matter.
But what is relevant is Xi Jinping’s portrayal of himself as cracking down on corruption. In recent years, Xi Jinping has focused on targeting targets within the Chinese military. where corruption has become part of the system in the army
The person who spoke about this was Roderick Li, research chairman of the China Aeronautical Institute (CSI), an affiliate of the American College of Aeronautics. Lee said that corruption in the Chinese military was inevitable if one wanted to climb the military ranks. You too must pay tribute to this system. made in the Chinese army “No one is clean,” especially those at the top of the army.
Lee said this system has been in place since before Xi Jinping announced a crackdown on corruption in 2014, with corruption in China’s military occurring in two main sectors. namely the contracting, procurement and promotion sectors. This kind of situation will lead to leaving only Xi Jinping and the Chinese military “The group of officers they accept the most. But there is a history of corruption before.”
Last July, there was also the case of Li Yuchao, commander of China’s missile forces, being removed from his post. Along with two others, Liu Guangbin, deputy chief of the Missile Forces, and Zhang Zhenzhong, former deputy chief of the Missile Forces. The three men were investigated by the Anti-Corruption Unit of the Central Committee of the Chinese Armed Forces.
In the case of the disappearance of another former minister
US media reported about Li Changfu: He was taken in for questioning in early September if Li was being dismissed from the Central Committee of the Chinese Armed Forces. He will suffer the same fate as Fang Fenghui, who was expelled from the Chinese Communist Party and sentenced to life imprisonment on corruption charges in 2019, which, with China’s lack of transparency, may cause us to never know what happened in fact or why this punishment was given.
But what is notable is actually happening is that Xi Jinping now appears to be aggressive in fighting corruption. Because apart from the case of Li Recently, there was also the case of Qin Gang. A foreign minister who was struck by lightning and there is a conflict on the medical industry. But this kind of restraint is mainly It has always been part of Xi Jinping’s political agenda.
Qin Kang’s elimination had similar circumstances to Li’s elimination. and the dismissal of the leadership group of the Missile Force That is, they would disappear for 2-3 weeks, after which they would be released. Then there would be dirty rumors about why they were fired. But there will be no official explanation from the Chinese government.
David Straup, professor of Chinese politics at the University of Manchester, said: Li’s case was the same as Qin Gang’s. that happened before It is confusing how the firings were carried out so quickly, shortly after senior government appointments were made. This led Straup to assess the possibility that there might be things going on inside the Chinese Communist Party that are invisible to outsiders. Or maybe Xi Jinping didn’t do a good enough job screening those who could be promoted.
It is also possible that Qin Gang’s expulsion and dismissal from the military and the corruption investigation had nothing to do with each other. This is difficult to recognize given China’s lack of political transparency.
What Xi Jinping and the Chinese government have shown is that China wants to “modernize” its military by 2027, if the allegations of corruption are true as rumors suggest. It is possible that the Chinese government is doing this because it views high-ranking military officers as an obstacle to military modernization.
Xi has also said he wants the entire Chinese military to be under the control of the Chinese Communist Party. Technically, the Chinese military is already under the control of the Chinese Communist Party, considering the structure of the Central Committee of the Chinese Armed Forces, chaired by Xi Jinping. But in reality, the military can also be outside the control of the government if it has its own economy through corruption.
In summary, the Chinese military has been plagued with internal corruption long before Xi Jinping took office. This culture of corruption is so entrenched in the Chinese military that it may be very difficult to eradicate. Although the new generation of officers They see this matter as less of a part of military life than their predecessors, As long as there is an investigation into the matter by the Chinese government, it is likely that there will be cases of officers being fired and arrested the government. But the lack of transparency can also mean that people don’t know exactly why they were released and arrested.
Compiled from
What’s Up With China’s Disappearing Senior Military Officers?, Vox, 16-09-2023
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