What the disappearance of Li Shangfu shows about Xi’s regime

News Snapshot:

Photo by Noel Celis / AFP via Getty Images A mysterious health crisis appears to be sweeping the upper ranks of the Chinese government. First, it was Qin Gang, China’s foreign minister, who vanished this summer after less than six months in the job. Following his last public meeting on 25 June, the foreign ministry began cancelling his upcoming engagements, announcing on 11 July that Qin would not attend a summit in Indonesia due to “health reasons”. Two weeks later Chinese state media reported that Qin had been replaced as foreign minister, but no further explanation was given, and he...