Upheavals in Xi’s world spread concern about China’s diplomacy

the latest in a string of upheavals in the country’s top ranks, is stoking uncertainty about President Xi Jinping’s rule as an internal security clampdown trumps international engagement.

Newly installed Foreign Minister Qin Gang vanished with scant explanation in July, the same month as an abrupt shake-up of the military's elite Rocket Force, which oversees China's nuclear arsenal. “Clear-eyed assessments are needed - this isn’t just a question of whether China is a partner or a competitor, it is a source of economic, political and military risk,” said Mr Drew Thompson, a former Pentagon official who is now a scholar at the National University of Singapore.

Since his appointment in March, Mr Li has been the public face of China’s expanding military diplomacy, expressing concern over US military operations during a high-profile security conference in June and visiting Russia and Belarus in August. Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu has missed meetings including at least one with an foreign counterpart since he was last seen in late August. PHOTO: REUTERSAlthough not in a direct command position, Mr Li serves on Mr Xi’s seven-man Central Military Commission and is one of China’s five state councillors, a cabinet position that outranks regular ministers. Some scholars believe he is close to General Zhang Youxia, who sits above him on the commission and is Mr Xi’s closest ally in the PLA.

Regional envoys say deeper Chinese military diplomacy is vital, particularly with the US but also with other powers, as China increasingly deploys forces around Taiwan - the democratically governed island it claims - and across disputed parts of the East and South China Seas.

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