China: Former PLA Navy chief takes over as new defence minister after predecessor's sacking

Two months after General Li Shangfu was summarily fired without cause, China on Friday appointed General Dong Jun, a former naval commander and rumoured personal friend of President Xi Jinping, as the new defence minister.

Dong was named in Li’s stead by the National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s highest legislature, which verified Li’s removal in October, according to official media reports.

As one of the highest-ranking officers still in active duty, Dong, the former commander of the Chinese navy, was elevated to the rank of general in September 2021, according to the China Daily.

Considered a close friend of President Xi, Dong was elected in October of last year to the Communist Party of China (CPC).

He served in the Northern Sea Fleet, which is currently a regular participant in joint drills with the Russian Navy, the Eastern Sea Fleet, which concentrates on potential conflicts with Japan, and the Southern Command Theatre, which is in charge of the South China Sea, prior to rising to the rank of top commander in the navy in 2021, according to the South China Morning Post of Hong Kong.

President Xi, who is also the General Secretary of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) and the head of the Central Military Commission (CMC), approves appointments to the top defence positions.

Prior to Li, Qin Gang, the foreign minister, was also dismissed without cause. Wang Yi took Qin’s post as Foreign Minister. Wang was replaced earlier this year by Qin as the nation’s senior diplomat.

We do not know what became of Qin or Li.

In late August, Li had vanished from view and no explanation had been provided for his departure.

Li, the commander of the nation’s missile force, was the second senior minister to be unexpectedly removed from office this year and the first Chinese defence minister to be put on a US sanctions list due to Russian arms sales.

In late August, Li had vanished from view and no explanation had been provided for his departure.

Li, the commander of the nation’s missile force, was the second senior minister to be unexpectedly removed from office this year and the first Chinese defence minister to be put on a US sanctions list due to Russian arms sales.

Following Xi and US President Joe Biden’s recent summit, the US and China recently agreed to restart their delayed discussions between top defence officials. This coincides with the nomination of Dong as the new defence minister.

In retaliation for former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s August 2018 travel to Taiwan, China severed military ties.

General Liu Zhenli, the Chief of the Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission in China, and General Charles Brown, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US military, had a video conference on December 21 to rekindle negotiations between their forces.

“The video call yielded positive and constructive outcomes,” Chinese Defence spokesman Sr. Col. Wu Qian told the media.

Under Xi, the Chinese navy has surpassed the army in importance thanks to a significant increase in the number of warships and conventional and nuclear submarines in its fleet.

Notably, neither Li nor Dong were in the armed forces.

In competition with the US military, the Chinese Navy is at the forefront of China’s global outreach to increase its influence, with three aircraft carriers at various degrees of operational readiness.

In relation to Chinese naval operations in the disputed South China Sea, Xi elevated two naval officers on Tuesday, including a specialist in submarines to the position of senior naval commander.

The highest rank available to Chinese officers serving in the field is general.

Among the promoted officers were Hu Zhongming, the Commander of the PLA Navy, and Wang Wenquan, the Political Commissar of the PLA’s Southern Theatre Command.

Hu was a skilled submarine specialist who had participated in multiple drills and the Chinese navy’s inaugural worldwide expedition.

(With agency inputs)