Dong replaces Li Shangfu, who was fired and disappeared from public view 4 months in the past.
China has appointed former navy chief Dong Jun as the brand new defence minister after months of uncertainty following the sacking of his predecessor for nonetheless unknown causes.
The official removing of Li Shangfu, the previous defence minister, was solely introduced in October. Li has not been seen in public since late August.
Asserting Dong’s appointment on Friday at a gathering of the standing committee of China’s Nationwide Individuals’s Congress, the state-run Xinhua information company didn’t present any causes for the change or Li’s present whereabouts.
Dong, 62, takes over the largely ceremonial position at a time when the US has ramped up its efforts to bolster diplomatic and defence ties within the Asia Pacific as a part of a marketing campaign to compete with China.
Whereas Dong would be the public face of the Individuals’s Liberation Military (PLA) in its engagement with the media and with different militaries, his ministry may have little say in defence coverage or navy administration.
These vital areas fall underneath the purview of the Central Navy Fee, an elite group that’s led by President Xi Jinping.
An vital ingredient of his position shall be to interact with the US navy to decrease the danger of battle over Taiwan and the South China Sea.
China has elevated navy strain on the democratically ruled island of Taiwan, which it claims in its entirety, prematurely of presidential and parliamentary elections subsequent month.
Earlier than turning into the PLA’s navy chief and being made a full normal in 2021, Dong was vice commander of the East Sea Fleet, the spine of what’s now the Japanese Theatre Command – the primary pressure answerable for preventing over Taiwan.
He additionally served as vice commander of the Southern Theatre Command which operates within the disputed South China Sea – which is claimed by China, a lot to the ire of neighbouring Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Brunei and Malaysia.
Li turned defence minister in March and was seen as a Xi loyalist. Hypothesis over the rationale for his ouster, and that of Overseas Minister Qin Gang in July, has ranged from corruption allegations to spying suspicions.
The US imposed sanctions on Li in 2018 over weapons purchases from Russia, together with Su-35 fight plane and S-400 surface-to-air missile programs.
Combating alleged corruption has lengthy been a central theme of Xi’s rule.
China’s opaque political and authorized programs and the lack of knowledge associated to the removals of the defence and overseas ministers, have led some to query whether or not they have been as a consequence of corruption or disputes with influential figures.
Final yr, former Trade Minister Xiao Yaqing vanished from public view for almost a month earlier than it was revealed he was being investigated for corruption.
Latest months have additionally seen an overhaul within the management of China’s secretive Rocket Pressure, the military unit that oversees Beijing’s nuclear arsenal, following media reviews of a corruption probe involving its former chief.