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Removal of Li Shangfu as China’s defence minister ends stratospheric career in space, military and government
- Li made global headlines in March when he became China’s first defence minister on a US sanction list
- He built closer military ties with Russia, with two visits to Moscow and three meetings with Sergei Shoigu in six months as well as Belarus visit in August
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Sylvie Zhuangin Beijing
The removal of Li Shangfu as China’s defence minister on Tuesday marked the end of the aerospace expert’s four-decade career in which he was instrumental in the country’s ambitious space programme.
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The National People’s Congress Standing Committee, China’s top lawmaking body, announced the decision at the end of a five-day meeting – after Li had disappeared from public view for more than two months.
He was also dismissed from his position as a state councillor and expelled from the Central Military Commission on Tuesday.
Li, 65, was a stalwart of China’s aerospace programme before he was appointed China’s defence minister in March, making global headlines as the country’s first defence minister on a US sanction list.
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Born in Sichuan in 1958, Li is a native of Jiangxi province in eastern China. His father, Li Shaozhu, was a Red Army veteran and former high-ranking officer of the People’s Liberation Army Railway Force. The late Li Shaozhu was famous for rebuilding logistical railways during the civil war and Korean war.
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