New commissar for PLA force
Major-General Liu Liangkai has been appointed to replace Major-General Zhang Rucheng as political commissar of the People's Liberation Army garrison in Hong Kong.
General Liu, 58, was political commissar of the PLA's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region military area command before his latest appointment.
It is General Liu's second spell as political commissar of the Hong Kong garrison. He served as the garrison's top political officer from 2004 to 2005.
General Zhang, who was appointed political commissar of the Hong Kong garrison in July 2005, has been appointed deputy political commissar of the Guangzhou military area command.
Cheng Dongfang, spokesman for the Hong Kong garrison, said the commander of the Hong Kong garrison, Lieutenant-General Wang Jitang, General Zhang and his successor briefed Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen about the change during a meeting yesterday.
Veteran China-watcher Johnny Lau Yui-shui said General Zhang's appointment was a promotion because the Guangzhou military area command was one of the seven major military regions in the mainland.
