India, Aug. 30 -- Former India-facing commander vanished months before China removed him from key posts.

General Zhao Zongqi, the former commander of China's India-facing Western Theatre Command during the Doklam standoff and the 2020 Ladakh confrontation, had stopped appearing at Beijing's key political and military gatherings months before China formally stripped him of his senior political positions. Zhao, 71, was removed from the Standing Committee of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and stripped of his CPPCC membership at a meeting on August 26. The official Chinese announcement gave no reason for his removal. It also relieved him of his position as deputy director of the ...