Li Shangfu: speculation grows over fate of China’s missing defence minister

Li Shangfu, who has not been seen for two weeks, is under house arrest', claims US ambassador to Japan

China's defence minister has not been seen in almost three weeks with speculation he is under investigation, the latest case of a senior Communist party official to disappear from public view.

Gen Li Shangfu was last seen on 29 August when he gave a speech to the China-Africa peace and security forum. His last overseas trip was to Moscow and Minsk in mid-August, where he met Russian officials on the sidelines of a security conference, and with the Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko.