Advertisement
China promotes General Li Qiaoming to commander of PLA ground force
- He steps into new role after overseeing strategically important Northern Theatre Command, which borders Russia and North Korea
- Li, 61, is relatively young for a top Chinese general and his promotion suggests the PLA is looking to lower the age profile of its top commanders
Reading Time:2 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
2
General Li Qiaoming, who previously led a key command bordering North Korea and Russia, has been named the new commander of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) ground force.
The 61-year-old Li made his first appearance in his new capacity on Tuesday, three months after stepping down from his role as commander of the Northern Theatre Command.
In a post shared by the ground force’s official WeChat account on Tuesday evening, Li was introduced as the commander of the PLA’s land-based branch during a ceremony to commence training in the new year, which was attended by over 1,000 soldiers.
Born in the landlocked Henan province, Li joined the army at the age of 15 and for years served in the Guangzhou Military Region, which was disbanded in 2016 and reorganised as the Southern Theatre Command. He held several key positions in the region, including chief of staff, corps commander and major general in the 41st Army.
Advertisement
In 2013, Li wrote an article in the state-owned political journal Red Flag Manuscript which argued that the Soviet Union had collapsed because the party disarmed itself.
“The Communist Party of the Soviet Union gave up its leadership over the army, and the army stood by at the country’s critical moment. In the end, the Soviet Union fell apart, and the [party] fell apart, the lesson is profound,” he wrote.
Advertisement
He continued to publish analyses of war and conflict strategies on topics including Russia’s operations to Crimea and Syria in 2014 and 2016 respectively.
Advertisement
Select Voice
Choose your listening speed
Get through articles 2x faster
1.25x
250 WPM
Slow
Average
Fast
1.25x