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Picture of PLA-Major General Chang Dingqiu

Breaking | The rising star in China’s military tipped as future air force leader

Chang Dingqiu is youngest deputy commander in the PLA’s five new theatre commands

A rising star in the People’s Liberation Army Air Force has reported for duty as deputy commander of the South Theatre Command, making him the youngest PLA officer of his rank and paving the way for further promotions.

“The [newly formed] South Theatre Command is now just like a little boy who is not yet strong enough for fighting for the time being,” Major General Chang Dingqiu told the PLA Daily newspaper on Tuesday.

“Given that we have patience and, more importantly, confidence, [the boy] will become sturdy and capable…because he has combative genes,” Chang said.

As the present Air Force commander General Ma Xiaotian 67, is expected to step down in the power reshuffle at the Communist Party’s 19th National Congress in autumn next year, the deputy chief of the joint staff Lieutenant General Yi Xiaoguang, 58, is tipped to succeed him.

Chang will be one of the strongest contenders for the position of Air Force commander when Yi retires after serving one or two official five-year terms.

At last September’s massive military parade in Beijing to mark the 70th anniversary of Japan’s defeat in the second world war, Chang was squadron leader of the formation of PLA fighter jets that conducted the flyover of Tiananmen Square.

He told state broadcaster China Central Televison that the event would “further boost the Air Force’s development”.

Meanwhile, Chang’s promotion makes him one of six deputy commanders of the South Theatre Command. Under the new military reforms launched this year, each theatre command has two deputy commanders from each of the three service branches.

Chang’s fellow deputy commander from the air force is Lieutenant General Xu Anxiang, who holds rank over Chang as Air Force commander of the theatre.

The remaining four deputy commanders came are Rear Admiral Wei Gang and Rear Admiral Shen Jinlong from the PLA Navy, and Lieutenant General Chen Zhaohai and Major General Liu Xiaowu from the PLA’s regular ground force.

PLA’s new support force to be hub of China’s joint military operations

The new command structure is a departure of the older arrangements, in which there was only one deputy commander each from the Air Force and the Navy in the former military region.

The reformed structure of two senior officers from each branch was a result of the massive military overhaul championed President Xi Jinping in his capacity of chairman of the Central Military Commission late last year.

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