Chinese Minister Dong Jun's fate unclear as differing accounts emerge on corruption investigation

WASHINGTON/BEIJING - The fate of Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun remained unclear on Wednesday, as two U.S. officials told Reuters that he was being investigated for corruption while another urged caution.

The Financial Times first reported that Dong was being investigated as part of a wide-ranging anti-corruption probe that has roiled the top ranks of the People's Liberation Army.

One U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Reuters that a Chinese investigation into its strategic rocket forces had expanded to other issues in the military and procurement.

The official added that the investigation into Dong was significant because Chinese President Xi Jinping had appointed Dong himself.

But another senior U.S. official, also speaking on the condition of anonymity, urged caution on reports about his investigation without offering details on whether the report was accurate.

Dong would be the third consecutive serving or former Chinese defence minister to be investigated for alleged corruption.

When asked at a daily press briefing about the report, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said it was "chasing shadows".

China's defence ministry did not immediately reply to Reuters requests for comment.

China's military underwent a sweeping anti-corruption purge since last year, with at least nine PLA generals and a handful of defence industry executives removed from the national legislative body to date.

Dong, a former PLA Navy chief, was appointed defence minister in December 2023. His predecessor, Li Shangfu, was removed after seven months into the job.

Dong last week declined to meet U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during a meeting of defence ministers in Laos citing U.S. actions over Taiwan, a move the Pentagon chief said on Wednesday was unfortunate.

U.S. officials said they were not concerned about military-to-military relations between Washington and Beijing if Dong was removed, adding that China would be able to quickly put in place a successor.

As defence minister, Dong is responsible for China's military diplomacy with other nations. He oversaw a recent thaw in U.S.-China military-to-military ties, with both nations holding theatre-level commander talks in September for the first time.

But he was not promoted to the six-member Central Military Commission (CMC), China's highest-level military body, during a major Communist Party plenum earlier this year, where personnel reshuffles would normally be announced.

China's defence minister has traditionally been a member of both the CMC, which is headed by Xi, and the State Council, China's cabinet-level executive body.

Dong was not appointed to the State Council either during a government reshuffle in March.

"Frankly nothing would surprise me anymore," said Dennis Wilder, a professor at Georgetown University and former U.S. intelligence analyst.

"The history with these investigations in the PLA are that once the string of corruption is pulled many other threads are revealed and the sweater unravels."

Dong's two immediate predecessors, Li and Wei Fenghe, were expelled from the Communist Party in June for "serious violations of discipline", a euphemism for corruption.

A Communist Party statement at the time said the pair "betrayed the trust of the party and the Central Military Commission, seriously polluted the political environment of the military, and caused great damage to ... the image of its senior leaders".

The pair were also found to have received huge sums of money in bribes and sought to provide "personnel benefits" for others, the statement said, such as promotions or higher rankings in the military.

Reuters exclusively reported last year that Li was under investigation for suspected corruption in military procurement.

Wei had disappeared from public view after he was replaced in March 2023 during a planned cabinet reshuffle. Wei was head of the strategic People's Liberation Army (PLA) Rocket Force from 2015-17.

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt, Idrees Ali, Erin Banco, Michael Martina, and Laurie Chen; Editing by Tom Hogue, Neil Fullick and Sandra Maler)