WHY THE CHINESE MILITARY IS BUZZING WITH INTERNAL STRIFE

Top PLA Rocket Force officials and China’s foreign minister, who is not to be seen in public, are at the focus of the rumours.

Is all well with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China? First came the news of the mysterious death of a senior officer of the PLA Rocket Force and then the disappearance of the same unit’s commander. The developments occurred around the same time as last month’s failed mutiny in Russia by the Wagner group against president Vladimir Putin.

According to Indian intelligence agencies monitoring developments in China, Wu Guohua, deputy commander of the PLA Rocket Force, died under mysterious circumstances on June 6, but the PLA suppressed facts by altering the cause of death as cerebral haemorrhage, indicating turmoil within the PLA Rocket Force.

In line with 2015 military changes, China’s strategic missile force was renamed PLA Rocket Force. According to defence analysts, the group is in charge of the nation’s tactical and strategic missile arsenal, which includes nuclear missiles.

According to a study by the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California, China had just approximately 50 intercontinental ballistic missiles a little over ten years ago. In 2015, Chinese President Xi Jinping boosted his country’s missile forces to the status of a complete wing of the PLA. Since then, China’s deployment of missile launchers has increased significantly, and the estimate stated that by 2028, the rocket force would have deployed over 1,000 ballistic missile launchers.

Curiously, Lieutenant General Li Yuchao, Wu Guohua’s superior and commander of the PLA Rocket Force, was discovered missing from a Chinese military promotion ceremony in late June after Wu Guohua’s death. Li Yuchao’s disappearance raised the possibility that the Chinese government was looking into him. It was discovered that Li Yuchao had been detained and was the subject of an inquiry. Around the same time, the Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang vanished from public view, sparking increased speculation. Many people tried to make parallels between Qin Gang’s disappearance and the unrest inside the PLA Rocket Force.

Then, Yao Cheng, a former Chinese lieutenant colonel, tweeted on June 29 that “the current commander of the Rocket Force, Li Yuchao, was taken away from his office on the morning of the previous day!” Another startling tweet by him stated: “Reports suggest that Li Yuchao’s son is studying in the United States, where he is feared to have sold China’s military secrets.”

Then, on June 29, former Chinese lieutenant colonel Yao Cheng tweeted, “The current commander of the Rocket Force, Li Yuchao, was taken away from his office on the morning of the previous day!” Another shocking tweet he sent said, “Reports suggest that Li Yuchao’s son is studying in the United States, where he is feared to have sold China’s military secrets.”

All of these new occurrences show unequivocally that the PLA is in trouble. Rumours of a potential PLA uprising against the Chinese government are growing stronger with each passing day, according to a top Indian defence official who constantly monitors the Chinese military.

The abrupt disappearance of his foreign minister, who was last seen on June 25, has drawn criticism for Xi Jinping. Additionally, there are suspicions that Qin Gang had an affair with Fu Xiaotian, a popular host on the state-owned Phoenix TV network who is suspected by Chinese authorities of being a “double agent” and is charged with espionage. Qing Gang may have been connected to the probe, it is believed.