Xi signals Taiwan ambitions with public defenestration of former PLA officials

In a highly unusual public admonishment, China announced criminal allegations against two former high-ranking defense officials Thursday.

First is Wei Fenghe, China’s defense minister between 2018 and 2023. Wei is a former head of the People’s Liberation Army‘s Rocket Force, which is China’s land-based conventional and nuclear missile command, and a member of the powerful Central Military Commission. Second is Li Shangfu, Wei’s direct successor as defense minister, another CMC member, and the inaugural head of the PLA’s Strategic Support Force, a now-defunct space, cyberspace, and information warfare command.