Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu has been removed from his post, the country's state media said Tuesday without providing the reason and the name of his successor, nearly two months after he disappeared from public view.
Li's dismissal, which was approved the same day at a Standing Committee session of the National People's Congress or China's parliament, follows the removal of Qin Gang as foreign minister in July after he was mysteriously absent from public duties for one month.
The ouster of both foreign and defense chiefs is an unusual development for Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who started his norm-breaking third five-year term in October last year with a leadership dominated by loyalists.
The top legislature also decided to strip both Li and Qin of their status as state councilors -- a more powerful post than ministers. Li was also deprived of his membership in the Central Military Commission, the highest national defense organization, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
Li, who had been appointed defense minister during a parliamentary session in March, was last seen in public on Aug. 29, when he delivered a speech to a security forum with African nations in Beijing.
Two top generals from the Chinese military's Rocket Force, which oversees a unit that handles nuclear weapons, were replaced in July without explanation, fueling speculation that they were being investigated over corruption. Li's disappearance could be linked to the case.
In June, Li held talks with then Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada in Singapore on the sidelines of the Asia Security Summit, known as the Shangri-La Dialogue.
At the Singapore gathering, China rejected a U.S. proposal for official talks between Li and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, urging Washington to lift its sanctions on the then defense chief imposed in 2018 over China's purchase of weapons from Russia.
Gen. Liu Zhenli, chief of the Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission, has emerged as the top contender to succeed Li, according to media reports.
The former commander of the People's Liberation Army Ground Force became a member of the Central Military Commission in October last year.
Parliament also approved a new finance minister and science and technology minister, with Lan Foan and Yin Hejun assuming the respective posts, Xinhua said.
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