Who is Dong Jun, China’s new defence minister? What happened to Li Shangfu?

China has appointed a new defence minister. Dong Jun, 62, will replace Li Shangfu – the minister who disappeared four months ago without any explanation. But what do we know about Dong? And what happened to Li? Let’s take a closer look: What do we know about Dong? Dong, 62, was most recently the People’s Liberation Army Navy chief. As per Bloomberg, Dong is a navy veteran.

This is the first time China will have a defence minister from a naval background.

He was previously deputy commander of the Southern Military Command. This command handles the South China Sea – which China almost entirely claims as its own and which has led to friction with other nations including Vietnam and the Philippines. Dong was also deputy commander of the Eastern Military Command’s navy force – which deals with the East China Sea including Taiwan. As per SCMP, Dong also served in the Northern Sea fleet. The appointment by Chinese lawmakers comes as President Xi Jinping upgrades the military as part of his push to make China a dominant world power, a goal that has alarmed many neighbours. [caption id=“attachment_13291062” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] File image of Li Shangfu. AP[/caption] The role of China’s defence minister is to be the public face of the People’s Liberation Army in its engagement with the media and with other militaries. Unlike other countries, the ministry has little say in defence policy or military management, areas that fall under the purview of Central Military Commission, an elite group led by Xi. A crucial element of China’s defence minister job is to engage with the United States military to lower the risk of conflict over Taiwan and the South China Sea, two flashpoints that have seen increasing brushes in recent years. Yet during his brief tenure as minister, Li did not meet his US counterpart defence secretary Lloyd Austin. The ministry explained that Washington would have to first remove the sanctions it placed on Li on 2018 over his role in purchasing Russian aircraft and equipment. Dong would face no such constraint, as he is not known to be under US sanctions. What happened to Li? Li, who took up the defence minister job in March, has not been seen in public since August. As per SCMP, Li was last seen addressing the China-Africa forum in Beijing. United States Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel first highlighted Li’s absence. Emanuel posted on X:

President Xi's cabinet lineup is now resembling Agatha Christie's novel And Then There Were None. 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…

— ジョージ・グラス駐日米国大使 (@USAmbJapan) September 8, 2023

Beijing stripped Li of his title as defence minister and state councillor in October. “According to the sixth meeting of the standing committee of the People’s Republic of China’s 14th National People’s Congress, it was decided on October 24, 2023… to remove Li Shangfu from the positions of State Council member and Minister of Defence,” state broadcaster CCTV said.

It has not explained his disappearance.

Reuters cited sources to report that Li was under investigation for corruption related to equipment procurement and development. China previously also ousted former foreign minister Qin Gang from its cabinet as part of a major reshuffle of its top leadership. Qin was last seen in public on 25 June with Russian deputy foreign minister Andrey Rudenko. He was supposed to meet European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell in July, but China cancelled the event without giving any reason Qin also failed to turn up for meetings with US treasury secretary Janet Yellen and climate envoy John Kerry. Chinese foreign ministry, queried about his absence, blamed ‘health reasons’. However, that explanation went missing from official transcripts. Chinese officials have since dodged questions about Qin’s health and whereabouts. When President Joe Biden and Xi met in San Francisco , both leaders agreed to resume senior military talks that were suspended following then-House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to self-ruled Taiwan in August 2022. With inputs from agencies