China’s leadership has formally dismissed the country’s defense minister, Li Shangfu, about two months after he disappeared from the public eye, Chinese state media reported on Tuesday.
The decision was made after meetings of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, the country’s top legislature, in Beijing.
Qin Gang, China’s former foreign minister — who in June had also gone missing from public view — was also stripped of his state councilor position in the same decree on Tuesday. Beijing replaced Qin with Wang Yi as its foreign minister in July.
Chinese leaders did not provide explanation for the dismissals, but analysts say they signal turbulence among the top ranks of China’s ruling Communist Party, with Li the second minister to be stripped of their titles in recent months.
There is widespread speculation that Li could be under investigation since he began missing official meetings in late August and stopped appearing in public, but NPR has not been able to verify th
