UPDATES WITH STATEMENT FROM CHINA; CHANGES HEADER, DECK, LEDE
By Riyaz ul Khaliq
ISTANBUL (AA) - China on Wednesday rejected a claim by the daily Financial Times about a corruption probe against the country's Defense Minister Dong Jun.
The report is “groundless" and that of “shadow chasing," said Mao Ning, spokeswoman at China's Foreign Ministry, according to the daily South China Morning Post.
Beijing's reaction came after the influential UK-based newspaper had reported that Dong, 63, was facing a corruption investigation.
Dong is “being investigated as part of a broader probe into graft” in the People’s Liberation Army, it had reported, citing US officials.
He is the first naval commander to be elevated to the post of defense minister when he was appointed last December.
The incumbent defense chief replaced Gen. Li Shangfu, who disappeared from public view in late August last year before being removed over corruption charges.
The defense minister serves as the diplomatic face of the People’s Liberation Army, with the actual decision-making done by the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Military Commission, led by President Xi Jinping.
After his elevation to the defense minister post, Dong, however, was not appointed to the six-member commission.
Li’s predecessor Wei Fenghe, who retired from the post, also faced a probe over corruption charges.
Earlier, China fired two officers who led the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Forces and oversaw the nation’s nuclear weapons program.