China's Communist Party removes ex-foreign, defense ministers from top body

[July 18, 2024]  By Laurie Chen and Jessie Pang

BEIJING/HONG KONG (Reuters) -China's Communist Party removed its former foreign and defence ministers, Qin Gang and Li Shangfu, from its Central Committee on Thursday during a meeting of its largest top decision-making body, state news agency Xinhua reported.

The two officials had been removed from their jobs last year.

The ruling Communist Party ended its long-delayed third plenum on Thursday, a meeting of the 205-member Central Committee held roughly once every five years to map out the general direction of the country's long-term social and economic policies. Removals of Central Committee members would also be approved at such meetings.

The Central Committee said in a communique released by Xinhua that it accepted Qin Gang's resignation from the body, and confirmed the expulsion of Li Shangfu, 66, as well as former PLA Rocket Force commander Li Yuchao, 61, from the Communist Party for "serious violations of discipline and law", a euphemism for corruption. Li Yuchao was also removed from his job last year.

The decision to expel Li Shangfu and Li Yuchao from the Communist Party and its Central Committee by extension suggests harsher political consequences for the pair, compared to Qin Gang's resignation. Qin remains a Communist Party member.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has spearheaded a wide-ranging anti-corruption campaign since becoming leader of the Communist Party in 2012. In the first half of this year alone, the party's top graft watchdog has investigated 36 officials at the vice-ministerial level and above.

Li Shangfu and his predecessor Wei Fenghe were both expelled from the Communist Party last month on bribery charges, as China's People's Liberation Army undergoes a sweeping anti-corruption purge which has implicated two former defense ministers and nine top generals.

Qin, 58, was abruptly removed as foreign minister in July last year after seven months in the job, and has not been seen in public since following rumors of an extramarital affair. He was removed from China's cabinet, the State Council, in October and "resigned" from the national legislative body in February.

He became one of the country's youngest foreign ministers when he was appointed in December 2022, enjoying a meteoric rise which analysts partly attributed to his closeness to President Xi. No official reason was given for Qin's resignation from the Central Committee.

"Qin and Xi's images are somewhat tied - there is no way to make Qin look bad without making Xi look bad," said Wen-Ti Sung, a fellow at the Atlantic Council's Global China Hub.

"Qin Gang is able to get a relatively more graceful exit. The communique grants him the dignity of appearing to 'resign' on his own volition, and still calls him a 'comrade'"

Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang attends a press conference after talks with his Dutch counterpart Wopke Hoekstra in Beijing, China, May 23, 2023. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/Pool/File Photo

ANTI-CORRUPTION DRIVE

Li Shangfu was ousted as defense minister last October without explanation, before being placed under a graft investigation. He was removed from the party's highest military command body in February.

Li Yuchao was replaced last July during a shakeup of the Rocket Force leadership which also saw its political commissar dismissed. He oversaw a highly strategic unit of the PLA responsible for the nation's conventional and nuclear missile arsenal.

The Central Committee's communique also pledged to deepen Chinese military reforms, "uphold the party's leadership over the PLA", and to "provide effective guarantees for achieving military and national defense modernization" - without mentioning the military corruption crackdown.

Agriculture minister Tang Renjian, 61, who has been under investigation for corruption since May, remains a member of the Central Committee.

"One could see (the dismissals) as a sign of the continued vigor of Xi's anti-corruption campaign - or its sub-optimal effectiveness at preventing corruption even after more than a decade," said Sung.

Three alternate Central Committee members were appointed as full members according to the communique: Anhui provincial Communist Party personnel boss Ding Xiangqun, Sichuan provincial Communist Party personnel boss Yu Lijun and Beijing Normal University President Yu Jihong.

According to past convention, the Central Committee would appoint some of its 171 alternate members to fill in vacancies by order of the number of votes they received.

The new appointments this time skipped PLA Rocket Force deputy political commissar Ding Xingnong, who would have been second in line to join the Central Committee.

Former Central Committee alternate member and PLA Rocket Force chief of staff Lieutenant General Sun Jinming was also expelled from the Communist Party for corruption, the communique said.

Only 199 full Central Committee members and 165 alternate members attended the plenum, according to the communique.

(Reporting by Laurie Chen and Beijing NewsroomEditing by Peter Graff and Susan Fenton)

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