Chinese Defense Minister feared missing

After the Foreign Minister in China, now there are reports of Defense Minister Li Shangfu also missing. US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emmanuel has made a post on the social media platform X regarding the increasing political upheaval in China. He has written that China's Defense Minister has not been seen for the last two weeks. Earlier, the General of the Rocket Force of the Chinese Army had also gone missing.

According to reports, Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu has not been seen since August 29, 2023. He was being investigated in a corruption case in 2017. He last addressed the China-Africa Peace and Security Forum. Earlier, he had gone on a tour to Russia to attend the Security Forum. During this, Shangfu had targeted America for using Taiwan to encircle China. He had said that America is playing with fire by doing this.

Xi Jinping asked for unity in the army
The day China's Defense Minister is missing, Chinese President Xi Jinping has talked about unity and stability in the country's army. Not only this, he has also asked the army to be ready for war. Chinese Minister Li was appointed Defense Minister in March 2023.

Chinese Raksha Lee comes from a military family. Li's father, Li Shaozu, had been a Red Army officer. He fought against Japan in the late 1930s and 1940s. He was also known for his key role in rebuilding logistics railways during the Civil War and the subsequent Korean War. Li was later put in charge of the PLA, or People's Liberation Army, strategic railway force in the border areas of Tibet and Yunnan from the 1950s to the 1970s.

Earlier, China's Foreign Minister Qin Geng had also gone missing. There was to be a meeting with European Union's Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell on July 4, but this meeting was suddenly postponed. Borrell was informed about this two days ago. No reason was given for extending the meeting. On July 7, for the first time, journalists asked about Chinese Foreign Minister Geng.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry replied- We have no information. On July 10 and 11, Geng was to participate in a summit in Indonesia. It was said that he would not be able to go to Gang due to his ill health. Its transcript was published on the official website of the Chinese Foreign Ministry. The health part was missing in it. Geng, China's Foreign Minister, was last seen on June 25 at a meeting with Russian, Sri Lankan and Vietnamese officials. Since then he was not seen in public programs.

Geng's disappearance came amid rumors of an affair with Fu Jiaotian, an American citizen and Cambridge-educated reporter and TV anchor. Quinn Geng's absence was discussed on China's social media Weibo as well as China's largest search engine Baidu.

Disappearance of powerful people is not a new thing in China
The disappearance of powerful people in China is not a new thing. This has been going on since the time of Mao, the founder of modern China. Hundred Flowers Campaign was launched during Mao's time. Under this, people were given the freedom to criticize and were also asked to point out the shortcomings of the system. After this, many people did this, but whoever did this was never found again.

That means those people were killed. This was Mao's move. Actually, he wanted to identify his opponents present inside. It is being said that Xi Jinping is also adopting the same strategy. The list of people missing in China includes names ranging from actors, activists to sportspersons.

In February, Bao Fan, considered a big name in China's IT sector, also went missing. According to his investment bank China Renaissance, he was summoned in connection with a government investigation, after which he could not be contacted. Bao Fan is considered a rainmaker for the Chinese tech industry.

He not only facilitated deals between the biggest companies in the industry, but his investment bank also invested in many start-ups. Bao Phan's parents were diplomats. He studied in Norway and has also worked in institutions like Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse. In 2015, he got the cab hailing platforms of Alibaba and Tencent merged.