China has placed its defense minister under investigation in the latest corruption scandal to hit the leadership of the People's Liberation Army, according to current and former U.S. officials familiar with the situation.
Admiral Dong Jun, who was appointed in December 2023 after his predecessor was fired over corruption charges, is under investigation as part of a broader inquiry into corruption within the PLA, they said. American officials said.
This is the third consecutive defense minister or former defense minister to be investigated for alleged corruption.
Dong succeeded General Li Shangfu, who was ousted after only seven months of service. Both men were appointed by President Xi Jinping.
The Financial Times was first to report that U.S. officials believed Li was under investigation for corruption. Li had succeeded Wei Fenghe, who was also investigated for corruption after retiring.
U.S. officials said Xi was leading a wave of investigations into the PLA ensnaring Dong. It remains unclear what type of corruption allegations he faces.
The news comes a week after Dong attended an Asian defense meeting in Laos, where he refused to meet with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, which Austin called unfortunate. The two first met in Singapore in May at the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue defense forum in the first significant ministerial-level engagement between the two militaries since November 2022.
China's Defense Ministry blamed the United States for the snub, saying Washington was solely responsible because it had recently approved a weapons package for Taiwan that included advanced surface-to-air missiles for the first time.
The dispute came days after U.S. President Joe Biden and Xi met at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Peru and reiterated that their militaries should continue to maintain direct communications.
China closed military communications channels with the United States in August 2022 after Nancy Pelosi became the first speaker of the US House of Representatives to visit Taiwan in 25 years.
Xi agreed to reopen the channels during a summit with Biden in San Francisco a year ago, paving the way for a meeting between Dong and Austin.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning on Wednesday dismissed Dong's investigation report as wind and shadow, suggesting the claims were unfounded.
The investigation into Dong suggests Xi is broadening his probe into corruption within the PLA. In addition to the dismissal of the defense minister's two predecessors, the Chinese president previously removed the two officers who led the PLA rocket forces and oversaw China's nuclear weapons program.
Christopher Johnson, a former CIA China analyst who now runs risk consultancy China Strategies Group, said the development raised concerns about how Xi chose defense ministers.
Xi broke tradition in 2018 by appointing Wei, of the PLA Rocket Force, to the post instead of an army general. Along with Dong, a navy man, Xi's military staff assured him that the checks were impeccable after four months of research, Johnson said. So Xi wonders which sector of the PLA is not corrupt?
In 2022, Xi also removed Qin Gang, whom he had appointed as foreign minister, following reports of an extramarital affair with a Chinese woman in the United States.
U.S. military officers and officials have suggested the PLA investigations undermine Xi's confidence in his military and raise questions about whether it will develop the capacity to invade Taiwan by 2027, a goal set by the president Chinese.
Unlike the role of Secretary of Defense in the US government, the defense minister in China is not the most powerful military figure in the Chinese system, headed by the vice chairmen of the Central Military Commission. Instead, the defense minister serves as the international face of the PLA.
Earlier this year, Dong was not appointed to the CMC as expected, an unusual development that raised questions about his tenure.
