‘Groundless’: China dismisses report of corruption probe into Defence Minister Dong Jun

Foreign ministry responds to article that claims Dong is the latest holder of the position to be investigated for graft

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The Chinese foreign ministry has described a Financial Times report about Defence Minister Dong Jun as “shadow chasing”. Photo: AP

Yuanyue Dangin Beijing

Published: 5:29pm, 27 Nov 2024Updated: 6:46pm, 27 Nov 2024

China’s foreign ministry has described a report that Defence Minister Dong Jun is under investigation as “groundless”.

The Financial Times reported on Wednesday morning, citing current and former US officials, that Dong was the third consecutive serving or former Chinese defence minister to be investigated for alleged corruption.

On Wednesday, foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said the report was “shadow chasing”.

The wording differed from the ministry’s response to a report in the same newspaper in September last year about former defence minister Li Shangfu. That report quoted US officials as saying that Li, who had disappeared from public view for more than two weeks, was under investigation. At the time of the report, Mao said she “did not know the situation”.

Li was dismissed at a meeting of the top legislature more than a month later.

Former defence minister Li Shangfu was ousted after serving just seven months in the position. Photo: EPA-EFE

Dong, 63, was appointed to the role last December. He succeeded Li, who was ousted after just seven months in the job and expelled from the ruling Communist Party for alleged graft. Li’s predecessor Wei Fenghe was also kicked out of the party on corruption allegations.