China replaces rocket force generals in surprise military shake-up

The Rocket Force reshuffle comes after several weeks of rumours that a leadership change was in the works due to Li's absence from public view

Beijing: This week, China revealed two new chiefs of its People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force, in a surprise shake-up that has raised doubts about the inner workings of the military unit in charge of the country’s strong arsenal of nuclear and ballistic missiles, CNN reported.

State media on Monday reported that, Chinese leader Xi Jinping has named Wang Houbin as commander of the Rocket Force and Xu Xisheng as political commissar of the force.

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The Chinese state media has not mentioned any information about the previous chief Li Yuchao, a veteran of the force who had only served as commander since the beginning of 2022, a fairly short tenure, and prior commissar Xu Zhongbo, as per CNN.

Experts say it is rare to replace two top individuals in the Rocket Force in one sweep with military personalities from outside the branch, as Wang comes from the navy and Xu Xisheng from the air force. It also comes just a week after China’s previous foreign minister, Qin Gang, was abruptly and dramatically removed from his post without explanation.

The Rocket Force reshuffle comes after several weeks of rumours that a leadership change was in the works due to Li’s absence from public view, which has now been exacerbated by a lack of confirmation about his present status inside China’s opaque political structure.

While it is unknown what prompted the changes or whether Li or Xu were reassigned to different roles, observers think the shuffle indicates potential worries about Xi’s leadership.

It also comes at a critical juncture for the Rocket Force, which oversees China’s missile programmes, ranging from nuclear-tipped weapons to the shorter-range missiles used in China’s recent intimidation of self-governing Taiwan, which China’s ruling Communist Party claims as its own and has not ruled out forceful annexation.

Director of the China programme at the Washington-based Stimson Center think tank, said, The shake-up is fairly significant, adding thats especially the case if it emerges that this is part of a larger inquiry into the force, as per CNN.

Especially at a time when China is trying to build up its nuclear arsenal to deter potential US intervention in a Taiwan contingency, the personnel reshuffle and the underlying causes of it (would) raise skepticism about the forces ability to carry out that mission reliably and successfully, she said.

The leadership change comes as evidence points to an expanding Chinese nuclear force, creating an even more important vital position for the Rocket Force, which until 2016 was known as the PLA Second Artillery Force.

Satellite images have revealed the construction of hundreds of intercontinental ballistic missile silos in Chinese deserts in recent years, and the US Defence Department predicts an exponential increase in the number of nuclear warheads in Beijing’s arsenal over the next decade, CNN reported.