China’s strategic missile force was renamed PLA Rocket Force in the military reforms of 2015

At the centre of the speculation are top officers of the PLA Rocket Force and China’s foreign minister, who is not to be seen in public.

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.

China’s strategic missile force was renamed PLA Rocket Force in the military reforms of 2015. Defence analysts say the unit oversees the country’s tactical and strategic missile assets, including nuclear missiles.

A report of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, United States, claims that a little over a decade ago, China possessed only about 50 intercontinental ballistic missiles. It was Chinese president Xi Jinping who upgraded China’s missile forces into a full wing of the PLA in 2015. Since then, the number of missile launchers deployed by China has increased rapidly and the rocket force was on track to deploying over 1,000 ballistic missile launchers by 2028, the report said.

Curiously, following the demise of Wu Guohua, his senior and commander of the PLA Rocket Force, Lieutenant General Li Yuchao, was found missing from a promotion ceremony of the Chinese military in late June. The absence sparked speculation that Li Yuchao might be under investigation by the Chinese authorities. It was learnt that Li Yuchao had been arrested and placed under investigation. Speculation intensified with the disappearance from public view of Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang around the same time, and many sought to draw connections between Qin Gang’s disappearance and the turbulence within 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.”

Reports suggest that the matter is under investigation and several high-ranking officers of the PLA have been detained for questioning. A military observer, who did not wish to be named, claimed that Wei Fenghe, a former defence minister of China and ex-commander of the PLA Rocket Force, was being investigated for alleged corruption. Similarly, other key PLA officers—Zhang Zhenzhong, Liu Guangbin and Shang Hong—associated with the rocket force were apparently under the scanner.

“All these developments clearly indicate that all is not well in the PLA. With each passing day, rumours are gaining strength of a possible revolt in the PLA against the Chinese leadership,” said a key Indian defence official closely monitoring the Chinese military.

Xi Jinping has been facing flak over the sudden disappearance of his foreign minister, who was last seen on June 25. There are also rumours of Qin Gang having an affair with state-owned Phoenix TV’s popular host Fu Xiaotian, who is suspected by Chinese authorities of being a ‘double agent’ and faces espionage charges. It is suspected that Qing Gang may have been implicated during the investigation.