Senior commanders have vanished or been found dead. Rumours of corruption and even the possible sale of military secrets swirl. President Xi Jinping has installed new generals at the top while issuing ever more strident demands for absolute loyalty amid a surge in war-like rhetoric.
Such is the turmoil this weekend at China’s Rocket Force, the elite unit in charge of the country’s rapidly expanding arsenal of nuclear missiles.
Last week a photograph published by China’s state media showed an impassive Xi flanked by the freshly promoted generals Wang Houbin, the new commander of the Rocket Force, and Xu Xisheng, the unit’s new political commissar. It was the first time the top job had gone to somebody outside the unit. It came a day before
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