Xi Jinping promoted 3 generals with LAC experience to top PLA posts | World news
BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday promoted three senior officials of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), including the current head of the West Tower Command (WTC) – which controls the disputed border with India – as the national assembly. weekly of the governing body. wrapped up.
The development follows Xi’s unexpected, but expected, re-election as general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) for a third term, in a break from previous policies which limited the term to two terms. It means that he will also head the Central Military Commission (CMC) for another five years.
Xi also promoted generals He Weidong, Wang Haijiang and Xu Qiling.
He, 65, who has been promoted to the post of vice chairman of the CMC, served as the WTC commander from July 2016 to December 2019. He was in charge during the Doklam standoff which took place between July and August . Year 2017.
Wang, who is the current head of the WTC, was named to the 205-member CPC Central Committee, one of the highest decision-making bodies in the Communist Party, while Xu, 60, will succeed him as WTC president in 2020. , was also promoted to the Central Committee.
The WTC is the largest military command under the PLA, and oversees the long and disputed border between India and China, stretching from Ladakh in the west to Arunachal Pradesh in the east.
Since 2019, He Weidong has been in charge of the Eastern Theater Command (ETC), which oversees military operations involving Taiwan. He is one of the two vice presidents of the CMC, the other being Zhang Youxia.
The other four members of the CMC are Li Shangfu, Liu Zhenli, Miao Hua, Zhang Shengmin.
He Weidong has been promoted to vice chairman, without having previously served on the powerful CMC, showing Xi’s confidence in him.
Both He and Xu are experienced military leaders in the eastern region including Taiwan. O Weidong commands the PLA’s Eastern Theater, which oversees operations involving Taiwan and Japan’s Nansei island. He is believed to have participated in a major military exercise near Taiwan in early August which China launched following a visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Xu also commanded PLA ground forces in the Eastern Theater.
All three senior officers have served at the WTC during periods of tension – some of the worst in recent decades – including the 2017 Doklam (Donglang in Kannada) crisis and the Line of Actual Control (LAC) crisis in eastern Ladakh that starting in April 2020.
Wang also headed the Tibetan military district – which falls under the WTC – when the Galwan Valley attack took place in June 2020; Wang visited India in 2016 as part of military exchanges held in Pune.
