China’s defence minister has not been seen in almost three weeks, amid reports that he is under investigation, in 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. Reuters reported on Friday that Li has been placed under investigation by Chinese authorities, citing 10 people familiar with the matter. The investigation into Li relates to procurement of military equipment, a regional security official and three people in direct contact with the Chinese military told the news agency. Senior officials from the Chinese military’s procurement unit, which Li led from 2017 to 2022, were also under investigation, two of the people in contact with the military reportedly said. The investigation into Li, who was appointed as defence minister in March, and the eight officials, was being carried out by the military’s powerful disciplinary inspection commission, those two people said. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson told reporters on Friday that she was not aware of the situation. The state council and the defence ministry did not immediately return requests for comment. Li could not immediately be reached. Earlier on Friday, the Financial Times reported that the US government believed Li had been put under investigation, citing senior officials. Reuters said Li cancelled a meeting with Vietnamese defence officials at the last minute last week. Two Vietnamese officials told the news agency that Beijing had postponed the annual meeting. Rahm Emanuel, the US ambassador to Japan, has been particularly vocal about the mystery, likening Xi Jinping’s cabinet to the Agatha Christie novel And Then There Were None. On Friday, he posted on X/Twitter claiming Li had not appeared at a scheduled meeting with the Singaporean chief of navy because he was “placed under house arrest”. He did not provide a source for the claims. Emanuel’s office and the Singaporean navy have been contacted for comment. Li’s disappearance follows the surprise removal from his post in July of the Chinese foreign minister, Qin Gang, also after a weeks-long disappearance. There has been no further information or sign of him since. Xi also replaced two top generals of the Rocket Force in early August, in a major shake-up of the military wing’s leadership. The former commander Li Yuchao had not been seen in public for weeks prior, and there was no explanation of his removal. Since coming to power in 2013, Xi has run an extensive and unforgiving anti-corruption drive that analysts say also targeted political opponents. There has been a particular crackdown on corruption in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). But more than a decade into his rule, and after the greatest consolidation of power around a Chinese leader since Mao Zedong, senior ranks are now largely all Xi’s allies. “It would be remarkable that in year 11 of Xi being in charge of the PLA there is still such high-level corruption, and for the Rocket Force officers and Li Shangfu, Xi can not blame his predecessors,” wrote the China analyst Bill Bishop on Friday. Drew Thompson, a senior fellow at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, said Li and Qin were the international community’s “gateway to an opaque system” and their disappearances were concerning. “It’s kind of shocking that in three months China has disappeared both the foreign and defence ministers,” said Thompson, who is also a former US state department official. “These are two critical foreign interlocutors but China feels no obligation to inform the international community how or why [the ministers have gone]. It reinforces how inward China has turned.” Li was appointed defence minister in March, after a few months as the highest-ranked member of the central military commission, which oversees the armed forces. In 2018, as director of the military’s equipment development department he was sanctioned by the US over the PLA’s purchase of Russian military equipment. Li’s biography and title remained online at the time of publication. After Qin’s removal, references to him as foreign minister were quickly scrubbed from Chinese internet sites, though some were later restored. In China’s political system ministers are not the highest ranking in a particular portfolio. As defence minister, Li reports to two vice-chairs in the central military commission, who then report to Xi. However, he is also one of five state councillors, which ranks higher than a regular minister. Qin remains a state councillor.

Bangladesh Awami League President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said, "When the Awami League came to power, the fate of the people in this country changed."  She stated, "When Awami League is in power, the fate of the people changes. The people of Bangladesh voted in the 2008 election, and we formed the government. In the 2014 election, the people of Bangladesh once again brought us to power through their votes. In the 2018 election, the people of Bangladesh voted again and made us victorious." She made this statement at the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum in Dhanmondi 32, on the occasion of the 74th founding anniversary of the Bangladesh Awami League on Friday morning, June 23. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said, "Today Bangladesh has achieved dignity. Where once people around the world treated us as despise, today they see the people of Bangladesh with eyes of respect. Awami League has attained this respect." She added, "If the Awami League remains in power, Bangladesh will establish itself as a developing country. By 2041, we will have a Smart Bangladesh, a Smart Economy, and a Smart People, and our country will move forward."

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today (Monday) vowed to change the lot of the distressed people by transforming Bangladesh into a developed and prosperous country as envisioned by the Father of the Nation, calling upon all to work from their respective positions to advance the country maintaining the existing progress.    "Today, our target is to materialize the dream of Bangabandhu for which he liberated the country. We will bring smile on the faces of distressed people and build a Sonar Bangla free from poverty and hunger," she said.    The Prime Minister reiterated her commitment saying that she would implement the dream of the Father of the Nation by changing the fate of the distressed people.    She said this while virtually presiding over a discussion titled "Mukto Swadeshe Jatir Pita" (Father of the Nation in the Liberated Homeland) from her official Ganabhaban residence in the capital marking 50 years of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's homecoming after the country’s independence.      The National Implementation Committee for Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s 100th Birth Anniversary Celebration organised the function at Sheheed Monirul Alam Auditorium at BTV in Rampura, Dhaka.    Sheikh Hasina, elder daughter of Bangabandhu, said their target is to shape the fate of the people for which her father struggled throughout his life and he was jailed and tortured time and again and finally sacrificed his life.    The Prime Minister called upon the people to do their parts in transforming Bangladesh into a Sonar Bangla maintaining the country's existing advancement.    She thanked the countrymen as the Awami League has got the chance to work for the people after being elected to power time and again.    The Prime Minister said it was a big matter that they have got the chance to celebrate the country's golden jubilee of independence, birth centenary of the Father of the Nation and 50 years of Bangabandhu's homecoming.    She said that they had a plan to celebrate 50 years of Bangabandhu's homecoming on a large scale at his birthplace Tungipara, Gopalganj, adding that they are now observing it on a limited scale due to fresh surge of new variant of the coronavirus, thinking people’s safety.    Former vice-chancellor of Dhaka University Prof Dr AAMS Arefin Siddique spoke on the occasion while former foreign secretary Mohiuddin Ahmed, one of the three persons who received Bangabandhu at the Heathrow International Airport in London on January 8 in 1972 on his arrival from the Pakistani jail, shared his experience of that moment.    Chief Coordinator of the national implementation committee Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury gave the welcome address.    Noted actor Asaduzzaman Noor, MP, recited two poems on Bangabandhu and Bangamata written by their younger daughter Sheikh Rehana.     At the outset of the programme, a group of children sang the national anthem. At that time, all attending the function stood in solemn silence for some time in respect to the Father of the Nation while the theme son of the Mujib Borsho was also played.    An audio-video documentary was screened on the occasion.    Bangabandhu, the undisputed leader of the nation and supreme commander of the country’s Liberation War, returned to the sacred soil of independent Bangladesh via London and New Delhi on January 10 in 1972, after 290 days of confinement in Pakistan jail.    Since then, the nation is observing the day as the Homecoming Day of the Father of the Nation.  Source: BSS AH

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today (Sunday) asked the government officials to make sure that all, particularly the home-goers, wear masks and follow other health guidelines, alongside continuing their efforts to change people’s fate despite the fact that coronavirus has been rattling the world.    “We have nothing to do alone as it (Coronavirus) is a global problem. Despite the fact, we’re trying to check its spread and give protection to the people. We have to work for the people by keeping the wheels of the socio-economic advancement running alongside making sure that the efforts to change the fate of the people won’t stop anyhow,” she said.    The Prime Minister said this while addressing virtually a function on the occasion of signing the Annual Performance Agreement (APA) of various ministries and departments for the FY 2021-2022 and distributing the APA performance and integrity awards, from her official Ganabhaban residence, in the capital.    The Cabinet Division organized the function at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium in the capital. The Prime Minister reiterated her call to the people to maintain the health protocols to check further spread of the lethal virus. “I know, people like to go to their village homes (to celebrate the Eid-ul-Azha with their near and dear ones),” she said and asked the government officials to make sure that people, particularly the home-goers, use masks by making them aware about the virus. The Prime Minister said that her government has taken required measures so that none remains out of the inoculation. “We have started (mass) vaccination. More vaccines are coming. We will purchase whatever amount of jabs is required to bring all the people under vaccination,” she added. Describing the government officials as the main driving force to pursue the country’s development spree, Sheikh Hasina said, “You’re those who help run the wheels of the economy and quicken the country’s development.” The Prime Minister thanked all the government officials for their brave role in tackling the Covid-19 onslaught, saying that the country’s situation could have worsened during the pandemic if they did not perform their duties accordingly.  Sheikh Hasina said that she found the government officials more sincere since her party Awami League assumed office in 2009, adding that the government officials have taken very work for the welfare of the country and for its people as their own and gave their best to implement those.      The Premier added: “We’ve been successful whenever we took any work (due to their sincere efforts).    Sheikh Hasina said her government has been able to move the country towards a developing nation as it is in power for the third consecutive term after the 2008 national election. But, she opined that the coronavirus is becoming an impediment to Bangladesh’s advancement, saying, “The coronavirus has plunged the entire world into a crisis. No such crisis was ever seen before. We have specified the work plan to overcome the crisis. “ She said that her government has announced 28 stimulus packages involving Taka 1,31,641 crore to keep running the lives and livelihoods amid the pandemic. The Prime Minister said that her government has been giving topmost priority to ensuring socio-economic uplift of the grassroots people.   Sheikh Hasina said that Bangladesh will definitely advance towards the development following the spirit of the Liberation War as envisioned by the Father of the Nation overcoming all the hurdles including the Covid-19 pandemic.  The premier said that the government has introduced the method of APA in the 2014-2015 fiscal year for the public sector to ensure institutional transparency, accountability, proper utilization of resources and, above all, enhancing the institutional efficiency.  This is for the 8th time that such an agreement has been signed between the Cabinet Secretary on behalf of the Prime Minister and the concerned secretaries for the ministers.  On behalf of the Prime Minister, Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque later distributed crests and certificates among the top 10 ministries and divisions in the FY 2019-20 APA performances and integrity awards among top three ministries following receipt of the APAs signed for the FY 2021-2022. State Minister for Public Administration Ministry, Farhad Hossain, MP, spoke at the function while Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam gave the welcome address.  Senior Secretary of Finance Division Abdur Rouf Talukder has secured the FY 2020-21 Integrity Award and spoke on the occasion while Senior Secretary of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Division NM Zeaul Alam expressed his feelings as the ICT division secured first position in the APA performance.  A video documentary on the APA performance and its contribution to the country’s overall development was also screened. Source: BSS AH

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said, not as a beggar nation, to be a self dignified nation the Awami League government is working for development of people’s fate. The aim of the government is to change the fate of people. Bangladesh is moving ahead. The course should continue. She said these at the inaugural program of the Fourth National Development Fair through video conference from Gonobhaban in the capital on Thursday. Sheikh Hasina said, after forming government we are working for development of people’s fate. Our target, the government’s target is to change fate of every individual of the country, to develop their quality of life and to present a beautiful life for them. She said, from 1996 to 2001-these five years we were in power. Then Bangladesh was self reliant in food. Literacy rate and power production were increased and huge numbers of roads were constructed. In 2001 we got more votes but could not come to power due to conspiracy. Seven years were lost from the life of people. The Prime Minister said, in 2008 Awami League again came to power. After coming to power we have taken short, mid and long term plans for people. She said, this country became independent under leadership of father of the nation. He gave us the identity as a nation. What were the desires of the nation, we are working according to those. Sheikh Hasina said, not only for the current generation we are also working for better life for the next young or future generation. Bangladesh is an independent country. It will not depend on others, not live by begging. ‘Build the country with your own labor and merit, raise your head as a self dignified nation in the world’- father of the nation always wanted that. She said, a beggar nation has no honor. She said, we are giving utmost importance to education for children. We are working with the aim so that they can attain reputation in and outside of the country by taking modern education. We have offered stipend for the meritorious students so that they have not to face any problem. The Prime Minister also said, we don’t want that anybody would stay behind in this digital era. AH