Newly installed Foreign Minister Qin Gang vanished with scant explanation in July, the same month as an abrupt shake-up of the military's elite Rocket Force, which oversees China's nuclear arsenal.
China's Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday.
PROXIMITY ISN'T PATRONAGERegarding Defence Minister Li's disappearance and investigation, a ministry spokeswoman told reporters on Friday she was not aware of the situation.
With corruption long permeating China's military and state institutions, some analysts and diplomats believe Xi's anti-graft crackdowns mark political purges across the Communist Party.
If Li's fate "reflects Xi's increasingly inward focus, it is not good for those of us who want greater openness and lines of communications with China's military," said one Asian diplomat.
Persons:
Xi Jinping, GIANLUIGI, Xi Jinping's, Li Shangfu, Qin Gang, Drew Thompson, Thompson, Li's, Li, Helena Legarda, Alexander Neill, Zhang Youxia, Lloyd Austin, Austin, Ja Ian Chong, Chong, Greg Torode, Martin Quin Pollard, William Mallard
Organizations:
Rights, Reuters, Foreign, Rocket Force, Pentagon, National University of Singapore, State Council and Defence Ministry, People's Liberation Army, PLA, Communist Party, Mercator Institute for China Studies, Hawaii's, Military Commission, Washington, U.S . Defence, Pacific ., East, South China Seas, Thomson
Locations:
Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa, Rights BEIJING, India, China, Russia, Belarus, Beijing, Jakarta, Berlin, Singapore, Washington, Asia, Pacific, Taiwan, South, East China, South China, Hong Kong