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Chinese military gets youth injection with appointment of more generals
- Latest promotions take the number of full generals appointed during Xi era to 58
- A number of senior members of the Central Military Commission are expected to retire next year, insider says
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Chinese President Xi Jinping has promoted five more military officers to the rank of general, expanding the pool of young professional soldiers in the armed forces’ senior echelon.
Xi presented the new generals with their orders at a ceremony at the Central Military Commission’s Beijing headquarters on Monday, state news agency Xinhua reported.
As part of the promotions, Wang Haijiang becomes commander of the Western Theatre Command; Lin Xiangyang heads the Central Theatre Command; Dong Jun becomes commander of the PLA Navy; Chang Dingqiu takes over as commander of the PLA Air Force; and Xu Xueqiang becomes president of the PLA National Defence University.
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The promotions followed a similar exercise in July, when Xi named four new generals.
Xi has overseen the promotion of 58 full generals – the highest rank for officers in active service in China – since he came to power in 2012.
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China’s navy frigates launch military drill at sea
China’s navy frigates launch military drill at sea
One of Xi’s top priorities has been to build the People’s Liberation Army into a modern fighting force. In 2016 he launched an ambitious programme to bolster the PLA’s combat strength and ramp up overall military modernisation. Since then, Xi has promoted 39 senior military officers as generals.
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