Image source: topwar.ru
In China, the Minister of Defense was replaced, General Li Shangfu was appointed the new head of the military department of the People's Republic of China, who replaced Colonel-General Wei Fenghe, who headed the Ministry of Defense since 2018. It is noteworthy that the new Chinese defense minister is under US sanctions because of cooperation with Russia.
The National People's Congress, which is the highest legislative body of the People's Republic of China, approved 65-year-old General Li Shangfu as head of the military department. The appointment took place today, March 12, during the fifth plenary session of the NPC of the 14th convocation. According to experts, the appointment to such a high post of a general who is under US sanctions because of cooperation with Russia means continued cooperation with Moscow and cooling relations with Washington.
According to open sources, Li Shangfu was born in 1958 in the city of Chengdu in the southwestern province of Sichuan in the family of a high-ranking military man Li Shaozhu. After graduating from the PLA Defense Science and Technology University, he worked at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. At the age of 45, he became the director of the cosmodrome and led it until 2013, in 2016-2017 he held the position of Deputy commander of the Strategic Support Forces of the PLA. In 2017-2022, he headed the Department of Troop Training and Supply of the Central Military Council of China.
In 2018, Li Shangfu came under US sanctions. The report of the US Ministry of Finance stated that sanctions against the Department of Training of Troops and Supplies of the PRC and its head Li Shangfu were introduced in accordance with the law "On Countering America's Adversaries through Sanctions" (the so-called CAATSA package). These sanctions were a reaction of the United States to China's acquisition of 10 Russian-made Su-35 fighters in 2017, as well as the S-400 air defense system in early 2018.
He has the rank of general, awarded in 2019. The rank of "general" in the PLA corresponds to "colonel-general" in the Russian army.
