Why China’s Generals Keep Disappearing
Corruption in the People’s Liberation Army can’t be stamped out as long as commanders remain beholden to political commissars.
Ousted.
Photographer: AFP/Getty Images
China’s government offered no explanation for the recent dismissal of Li Shangfu, the country’s defense minister and a member of the Chinese cabinet. Most observers suspect Li, who last appeared in public at the end of August, was felled like so many before him by corruption allegations.
Li’s ouster took place very soon after the unexpected replacement of the two generals heading China’s Rocket Force, which oversees the country’s nuclear arsenal. If the cases are linked, that could indicate a serious scandal involving multiple senior officers of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).