What to make of a surprise shake-up in China’s nuclear force

Source Link

The last time that China’s supreme leader, Xi Jinping, purged the top tiers of the military elite, he could blame their venality on his predecessors. His two most senior scalps, Generals Xu Caihou and Guo Boxiong, were both accused of taking massive bribes in exchange for promotions. But not on Mr Xi’s watch. The generals had joined the Communist Party’s Central Military Commission, which oversees the armed forces, in 1999 and retired as its vice chairmen in 2012, the year that Mr Xi took power.

The downfall of General Li Yuchao, the commander of China’s Rocket Force, and its political commissar, General Xu Zhongbo, touches Mr Xi more directly. He put them in charge of China’s land-based nuclear and conventional missiles. No reason was given when official media announced on July 31st that they had been replaced. Nor was there any indication of their fate, although there is speculation that General Li and other Rocket Force officials could be under investigation for corruption or leaking military secrets.