China Appoints Sanctioned General as Defense Chief

For the first time ever, the head of the Pentagon will have to deal with a Chinese counterpart sanctioned by the US. Beijing appointed a new defense minister on Sunday. Along with four vice premiers. The new defense chief, Li Shangfu, is on a U.S. blacklist for buying Russian weapons. What sets Li apart is his technical background. Li used to be an aerospace engineer. And he once led a Chinese military branch responsible for speeding up China’s space and cyber warfare capabilities. Li’s appointment comes as Washington pushes to restore military communication with China. That stopped after former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan last August. Responding to Li’s appointment, a Pentagon spokesperson said the U.S. military could not comment on media reports about China’s leadership changes. He added that the DOD had been clear about wanting to maintain communications with the Chinese military.