HONG KONG\/ BEIJING:
\nChina\u2019s 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.
\nThe 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\u2019s long-term social and economic policies. 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\u2019s resignation. Qin remains a Communist Party member.<\/p>\n
Removals of Central Committee members would also be approved at such meetings.
\nThe Central Committee said in a communique released by Xinhua that it accepted Qin Gang\u2019s 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 \u201cserious violations of discipline and law\u201d, a euphemism for corruption. Li Yuchao was also removed from his job last year.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s top graft watchdog has investigated 36 officials at the vice-ministerial level and above.
\nLi Shangfu and his predecessor Wei Fenghe were both expelled from the Communist Party last month on bribery charges, as China\u2019s People\u2019s Liberation Army undergoes a sweeping anti-corruption purge which has implicated two former defence ministers and nine top generals.
\nQin, 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 rumours of an extramarital affair. He was removed from China\u2019s cabinet, the State Council, in October and \u201cresigned\u201d from the national legislative body in February.
\nHe became one of the country\u2019s 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\u2019s resignation from the Central Committee.
\n\u201cQin and Xi\u2019s images are somewhat tied\u2013there is no way to make Qin look bad without making Xi look bad,\u201d said Wen-Ti Sung, a fellow at the Atlantic Council\u2019s Global China Hub.
\n\u201cQin Gang is able to get a relatively more graceful exit. The communique grants him the dignity of appearing to \u2018resign\u2019 on his own volition, and still calls him a \u2018comrade\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
HONG KONG\/ BEIJING: China\u2019s 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":419171,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-419170","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n