China's defence minister, not seen in weeks, skipped Vietnam meet

Three individuals with intimate knowledge of the situation claim that Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu abruptly withdrew from a meeting with Vietnamese defence officials last week amid concerns over his more than two-week disappearance from the public eye.

On September 7-8, Li, 65, was scheduled to attend a yearly conference on defence cooperation that Vietnam was hosting near its border with China. However, the event was postponed when Beijing informed Hanoi days beforehand that the minister had a “health condition,” according to two Vietnamese officials.

Defence and foreign ministries of China as well as the State Council Information Office did not immediately react to a request for comment about the Vietnam event.

The sudden cancellation of Li’s trip comes after China’s abrupt replacement of Foreign Minister Qin Gang in July following a protracted period of secrecy and a recent reorganisation of the leadership of the People’s Liberation Army’s elite Rocket Force, actions that have sparked concerns about the Chinese leadership’s decision-making.

Because of his proximity to President Xi Jinping, Qin rose swiftly through the ranks of the Communist Party, making his dismissal after only seven months even more shocking. Qin’s disappearance from the public eye was initially attributed to health issues, according to Chinese officials.

Li was chosen for the position in March. Diplomats and other observers are keeping a careful eye on him since, like Qin, he is one of China’s five State Councillors, a cabinet position that ranks higher than a regular minister.

Li’s prolonged absence from public view has drawn some comment. US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Sept. 8: “First, Foreign Minister Qin Gang goes missing, then the Rocket Force commanders go missing, and now Defense Minister Li Shangfu hasn’t been seen in public for two weeks. Who’s going to win this unemployment race? China’s youth or Xi’s cabinet?”

Asked about Emanuel’s post this week, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman told reporters she was “not aware of the situation.”

On August 29, Li was last seen in Beijing while giving a keynote speech at a security meeting involving African countries. Prior to it, he visited Russia and Belarus and held important discussions there.

The Chinese defence minister does not have combatant command authority, but is primarily in charge of defence diplomacy. Compared to the foreign minister, who routinely appears in official media, he has a lower public profile.

“Li’s disappearance, following so shortly after Qin, speaks to how mysterious Chinese elite politics can be to the outside world,” said Alfred Wu, associate professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore.

“China under Xi simply does not feel a need to explain itself to the world.”

For purchasing weapons from Rosoboronexport, Russia’s largest arms dealer, Li was subject to US sanctions in 2018.

Chinese officials have often stated that they want the sanctions lifted in order to improve communication between the forces of the two countries. During a defence symposium in Singapore in June, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin made an effort to speak with Li but was only successful in exchanging a handshake.

Li was appointed deputy commander of the military’s then-new Strategic Support Force in 2016, an elite group tasked with speeding the development of weapons for cyber and space warfare. Then, from 2017 until he was appointed defence minister, he oversaw the military’s procurement division.

In a rare announcement in July, the agency requested feedback from the public as it looked to “clean-up” its bidding procedure.

(With agency inputs)