China's defence minister Dong Jun appears in public 1st time in 2 weeks after graft investigation report

China's Minister for National Defense, Dong Jun, appeared at a security seminar in Shanghai on Dec. 5, seemingly putting to an end reports that he is currently under investigation for corruption.

Suspect Dong

Nikkei reported that China's defence minister, Dong Jun, had previously not been seen in public since Nov. 22.

The Financial Times had reported on Nov. 27 that Dong was caught up in a wave of corruption investigations into the People's Liberation Army (PLA).

The FT had quoted United States officials who said that China's President Xi Jinping’s investigations into the PLA had "ensnared" Dong, with Nikkei saying that the allegations were that Dong was involved in a graft probe.

If the allegations had been true, Dong would have been the third consecutive defence minister in China to be investigated for corruption.

China’s previous two defence ministers, Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu, were both expelled from the Communist Party of China (CPC).

Notably, both Li and Wei disappeared from public view weeks or even months before the corruption investigations were made public by the CPC.

This was also true for China's previous foreign minister, Qin Gang, who was also removed from his position and expelled from the CPC after facing corruption charges after not being seen in public for months.

Appearance puts allegations to bed

The allegations against Dong gained life mainly because of his supposed extended disappearance from public view, five days at the time of the FT's reports, and until the Shanghai seminar almost two weeks.

Unlike in many other countries, China's defence minister is more akin to the public face of the country's defence establishment rather than the chief policy maker, making a lack of appearances more pronounced.

Instead, China's chief military decision-making body is the CPC Central Military Commission (CMC).

In China, CPC organs are considered to be higher on the decision-making chain than government ministries.

Dong appeared at a security seminar about the Gulf of Guinea, involving delegations from African nations such as Nigeria and Gabon, according to Nikkei.

This appearance would be unlikely if he were under serious investigation and seemingly puts to bed any allegations against him.

"Pure fabrication"

Also notable for previous allegations against Wei, Li, and Qin was the fact that while rumours about their fates had circulated for several months, China’s government had largely refrained from commenting until the charges were revealed.

This is in contrast to the FT’s report on Dong, which was refuted almost immediately as a spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry dismissed the report almost immediately during a regular briefing on Nov. 27, describing the reports as “just shadow chasing”.

On Nov. 28, a spokesperson for China's defence ministry was quoted by Nikkei as dismissing the reports of an investigation into Dong as “pure fabrication”.

Out of the frying pan

But just because the reports of a corruption investigation into Dong Jun appear to be untrue, does not mean that high-ranking military officials in China are not under investigation.

Nikkei reported on Nov. 28 that the defence ministry spokesperson confirmed that Miao Hua, Director of the Political Work Department, was being investigated for “serious violations of discipline”.

Miao is one of five members of the CMC and outranks Dong.

This is also not the first time U.S. officials have not gotten the story of what happens in China exactly right.

In September 2023, the then-U.S. ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emmanuel, taunted China’s government on the official U.S. Embassy to Japan's Twitter account, alleging that Li Shangfu was involved with the Country Garden property scandal.

While Li was ultimately expelled from the CPC and stripped of his position, there has been no indication that Country Garden links were at the root of his downfall.

Emmanuel, for his part, was told by the Biden administration to stop taunting Xi Jinping.

Related stories

Top image via Tan Min-Wei