A top Chinese military commander has not been seen in public since last summer, and his absence at a recent Chinese Communist Party (CCP) conference has raised more questions regarding the future of the newest branch of China’s military.
Gen. Ju Qiansheng, the commander of the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) strategic support force since 2021, did not attend the plenary session of the 20th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection on Jan. 8-10. Following his disappearance from public view on July 2023, he was reportedly placed under investigation.
The strategic support force was established after the CCP initiated a military reform in 2015 and is the fifth military branch of the PLA, following the army, navy, air force, and rocket force.
Yao Cheng, a former lieutenant colonel in the Chinese navy, told the Chinese language edition of The Epoch Times on Jan. 14 that he believes Gen. Ju was in trouble with the CCP’s leadership. “As the first-ranked officer of a branch of the military, if he hasn’t been seen for over half a year, there’s no doubt that something has happened to him,” he said.
Wang Juntao, the current leader of the Democratic Party of China, is convinced that Gen. Ju may be under investigation.
“As far as I know, all the military leaders are being investigated. Some have been suspended due to the investigations, while others are being investigated but still working. Many are under investigation for political reasons, and the CCP would censor all such information,” Mr. Wang recently told the publication.
The Democratic Party of China was banned in China by Beijing, and it currently operates from New York City as an anti-CCP organization.
Broader Military Purge
Prior to Gen. Ju’s disappearance, Maj. Gen. Shang Hong, deputy commander of the strategic support force, was disqualified as a delegate to the CCP’s 20th National Congress in October 2022, and the reasons and his whereabouts remain unknown.The absence is noteworthy as the purge within China’s armed forces intensifies. On Dec. 29, 2023, the Standing Committee of China’s rubber-stamp legislature, the National People’s Congress (NPC), issued a round of dismissals of generals. Nine senior military generals, including Gen. Li Yuchao, the former commander of the rocket force, were disqualified from the NPC.
Potential Reorganization of Strategic Support Force
Several media reports claim that the strategic support force could face restructuring.Mr. Yao said it is difficult to determine if a reorganization will happen. “This military branch simply doesn’t look like anything in other countries. The strategic support force was established after the CCP’s military reform. It is supposed to be similar to the U.S. military’s Central Command, which is in charge of space and information warfare, but the CCP’s version is not doing any of the planned functions.”
CCP’s ‘Dream of a Strong Military’
Information released by the CCP shows that Xi emphasized the importance of the strategic support force.To realize the CCP’s “dream of a strong military,” Xi established the force, according to Chinese state media. Xi once called it a ”new combat force“ and said it was an ”important improvement of the Chinese military’s new combat capability.”
In late January to early February 2023, a high-altitude balloon from China flew across North American airspace, including western Canada, Alaska, and the contiguous United States. The U.S. Department of Defense has said that the Chinese balloon shot down by the U.S. Air Force in February was capable of intelligence gathering. In response, Beijing refuted the claims and said the spy balloon was a “civilian aircraft collecting weather data.”
However, some security analysts say the strategic support force may have been behind the spy balloon incursions, as China’s unmanned aircraft systems can collect information and carry out surveillance missions.
