This is John Batcheler, conversation with Charles Burton, my colleague in Ottawa, about

strange doings in the Chinese leadership.

Man named Dong, an Admiral in the fleet, head of the PLA Navy until he was elevated

to be Minister of Defence last December, replacing two previous Ministers of Defence, both of whom had been removed or

castigated as corrupt. However most recently Admiral Dung meeting as his

opposites like Secretary Austin in the US, Admiral Dunn learned that he wasn't

to be elevated to the Central Military Commission.

There are two of them, and Charles Burton here describes what they mean, why there are two, and the

possible significance of Admiral Tongue, the head minister of the Department of Defense. this is the Minister of Defense, the man in charge

of all the apparatus of war fighting and defending China, is either humiliated, sidestep, dismissed, demoted, unknown. Charles makes an

analysis that's most helpful to understand.

There are other things going on in the leadership in China.

It's very non-transparent.

But this certainly does seem odd.

More soon.

So, you know, Mr. Admiral Dong has come in as the third defense minister in a rather short time frame,

his previous two predecessors having been purged for corruption, and as you

say the foreign minister was also disappeared.

I think the surprising thing about Admiral Dong's appointment

is that we had expected that at the 13th plenum that we would hear that he had been

given the roles traditionally given to a

defense minister which is membership in the Central Military Commission. There are two of

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