Over the summer season, Beijing restricted Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin to a single handshake with sanctioned Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu at a prime army discussion board. Now, Li’s drop from public view may assist reboot senior-level army talks between the superpowers.
The Chinese protection chief is reportedly beneath probe after not being seen in public since Aug. 29 and lacking engagements, fueling hypothesis he’s set to get replaced. His removing would remove one main roadblock to army talks after Beijing made their resumption conditional on the US lifting its sanctions on Li.
