Han Zheng's Speech at the Xiangshan Forum Welcome Dinner: Where Did Zhang Shengmin Go?

March 11, 2023: Senior members of the CCP’s Central Military Commission line up to take the oath at the National People’s Congress. From right to left: Zhang Youxia, He Weidong, Li Shangfu, Liu Zhenli, Miao Hua, Zhang Shengmin. (Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)

[People News] According to Chinese state media, the 13th Beijing Xiangshan Forum took place in Beijing from September 15 to 17. As in 2024 and 2025, the Chinese Minister of National Defense, Dong Jun, attended the forum and delivered a keynote address. However, an unusual event occurred during the dinner.

On September 15, Chinese Vice President Han Zheng attended the welcome dinner for the 13th Beijing Xiangshan Forum and delivered a speech. His remarks were filled with clichés and lacked depth, raising a critical question: why was it Han Zheng who spoke? Where is Zhang Shengmin, the Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission, who was expected to attend?

According to Chinese media, the Beijing Xiangshan Forum, originally called the 'Xiangshan Forum,' was initiated by the Chinese Military Science Society in 2006 as a platform for second-track dialogue on security in the Asia-Pacific region. Since the fifth session in 2014, the forum has been upgraded to a first-and-a-half track, significantly enhancing its level and scale. Participants now include defense ministers or military leaders from Asia-Pacific countries and relevant nations outside the region, representatives from international organizations, former military and political officials, and prominent scholars.

This means that the initiators, organizers, most participants, and topics of this forum are all closely linked to the military. Consequently, at the welcome dinners of previous forum sessions, the speakers have consistently been high-ranking military officials.

At the welcome dinners for the 12th, 11th, and 10th Beijing Xiangshan Forums in 2025, 2024, and 2023, respectively, Zhang Youxia, a former member of the Central Political Bureau of the Communist Party and former Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission, who has now been officially reported to have fallen from grace, attended and delivered speeches.

From 2020 to 2022, the Beijing Xiangshan Forum was conducted online due to the pandemic. In the years prior, specifically in 2019 and 2018, the welcome dinner featured a speech by Xu Qiliang, who was then a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission. He has since passed away.

As per tradition, the speaker at this year's welcome dinner was expected to be the Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission. Following Xi Jinping's appointments of Zhang Youxia and Chief of Joint Staff Liu Zhenli in January, Zhang Shengmin emerged as the only Vice Chairman of the Military Commission promoted by Xi. Although Zhang comes from a political work background and has long been involved in disciplinary inspection, he is not yet a member of the Politburo. Nevertheless, his status as a vice national-level leader would justify his attendance at the welcome dinner.

However, the Communist Party of China chose not to send Zhang Shengmin; instead, Han Zheng was dispatched to attend the military-hosted welcome dinner. It is widely recognized that the Vice President of China primarily engages in significant ceremonial diplomatic duties, such as meeting foreign leaders and attending major international events, and typically does not participate in high-level Communist Party meetings. If Zhang Shengmin were unavailable, it would be reasonable for the Communist Party to send a senior 'ceremonial officer' like Han Zheng. However, the choice to send Han Zheng when Zhang Shengmin is clearly available is intriguing. Where is Zhang Shengmin?

Previously, Zhang Shengmin, who served as the Deputy Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party, did not attend the sixth plenary session of the 20th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection held on August 22.

According to past reports from the CCP's Central Television, Zhang Shengmin, Secretary of the Military Discipline Commission, has been repeatedly absent from the Standing Committee meetings of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) since his promotion to Vice Chairman of the Military Commission in October 2025. However, he did attend the fifth plenary session of the 20th CCDI held in January 2026, where he was seen sitting on the podium.

On July 3, CCDI Secretary Li Xi chaired a meeting of the CCDI Standing Committee, and once again, Zhang Shengmin was absent. On that day, Zhang Shuguang, who is both the Secretary of the Military Discipline Commission and the Director of the Military Commission's Supervisory Committee, along with Air Force Commander Wang Gang, was promoted to General. This suggests that Zhang Shuguang has taken over the role of Secretary of the Military Discipline Commission from Zhang Shengmin.

Traditionally, the Secretary of the Military Discipline Commission also holds the position of Deputy Secretary of the CCDI. However, since Zhang Shengmin stepped down from his role as Secretary of the Military Discipline Commission, he has not been publicly relieved of his Deputy Secretary position at the CCDI. Furthermore, the newly appointed Secretary of the Military Discipline Commission, Zhang Shuguang, was not elected as Deputy Secretary of the CCDI during the sixth plenary session. The newly elected Deputy Secretaries of the CCDI, Zhao Shiyong and Zhang Zhong, are both allies of the current Premier, Li Qiang.

Zhang Shengmin's continued absence raises questions about whether he has encountered problems or if there are other reasons for his absence. Given his promotion to Vice Chairman of the Military Commission, it is likely that he played a significant role in assisting Xi Jinping in the removal of Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli, and after their ousting, he supported Xi in the military's purges and reforms.

However, Xi Jinping and Zhang Shengmin were taken by surprise when the ousting of Zhang Youxia provoked a range of reactions and passive resistance from the military, the 'Red Second Generation', senior officials, and within the Party itself. After a period of negotiation, Xi did not achieve his goal of regaining control over the military. Instead, facing pressure from within the Party and his own recurring health problems, he publicly affirmed the 'system of centralized and unified leadership of the Party Central Committee'. 

Since June, there has been a gradual shift in the political landscape. While various reports about Xi Jinping continue to dominate the official media, his authority appears to be diminishing. The military's pictorial magazine has featured him on the cover for four consecutive issues, but has now removed him, and he is reportedly unable to participate in 'decision-making deployments' as well. This decline in Xi's power is undoubtedly bad news for Zhang Shengmin, who has placed his bets on Xi and turned against Zhang Youxia. Under pressure from multiple fronts, Zhang Shengmin finds himself in a precarious situation; what will be the outcome for him?

(First published by People News) △