Reading the tree leaves: Why a no-show by China’s No.2 general has speculation running wild

Reading the tree leaves: Why a no-show by China’s No.2 general has speculation running wild

Gen. He Weidong’s absence from a high-profile tree-planting event has fueled ongoing speculation that the vice chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission may have become the latest – and most senior – casualty in leader Xi Jinping’s purge of the military’s top ranks.

He Weidong, the number two in the Chinese military's leadership structure, has been absent from China's latest PR event, the planting of trees in Beijing, a decades-old tradition, fueling various speculations about his fate.

Weidong and Xi have known each other for decades, dating back to the beginning of their careers in the coastal province of Fujian.