Removal of Li Shangfu as China’s defence minister ends stratospheric career in space, military and government

The removal of Li Shangfu as China’s defence minister on Tuesday (Oct 24) marked the end of the aerospace expert’s four-decade career in which he was instrumental in the country’s ambitious space programme.

The National People’s Congress Standing Committee, China’s top lawmaking body, announced the decision at the end of a five-day meeting – after Li had disappeared from public view for more than two months.

He was also dismissed from his position as a state councillor and expelled from the Central Military Commission on Tuesday.

Li, 65, was a stalwart of China’s aerospace programme before he was appointed China’s defence minister in March, making global headlines as the country’s first defence minister on a US sanctions list.

Born in Sichuan in 1958, Li is a native of Jiangxi province in eastern China. His father, Li Shaozhu, was a Red Army veteran and former high-ranking officer of the People’s Liberation Army Railway Force. The late Li Shaozhu was famous for rebuilding logistical railways during the civil war and Korean war.

Li Shangfu joined the PLA in 1978 when he entered the National University of Defence Technology. Soon after graduation in 1982, Li joined the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre as a technician.

He became director of the centre in 2003, overseeing it as it became the pride of China’s space programme. In 2007, he was in charge of the Chang’e 1 mission – the launch of China’s first uncrewed spacecraft to orbit the moon.

During his 10-year tenure as the centre’s director, Li oversaw numerous rocket launches, including the Chang’e 2 lunar probe in 2010.

In an interview with state broadcaster CCTV in 2010, Li said his dream was to continue doing his job for eight more years and carry out 100 more rocket launches before retirement.