More changes among top military leadership in China
Observers say the ongoing reshuffle in the PLA comes in the wake of the government’s campaign to root out corruption in the army
More senior officials have switched jobs in the People’s Liberation Army amid an ongoing reshuffle in the military in China.
China's Caixin reported on Wednesday that Lieutenant General Wang Ning has been appointed as the new chief of People's Armed Force.
Observers have suggested the changes come in the wake of President Xi Jinping’s crackdown on corruption in the PLA.
Ma Yiming, the chief of staff of the Jinan Military Area Command, has become assistant chief of the General Staff, the financial news service Caixin reported, citing an article in the PLA Daily.
Ma was first mentioned in his new title in a PLA Daily report on Tuesday, Caixin said.
Ma, 57, has been serving in the Jinan military region since he joined the army in 1974 and became the regional command’s chief of staff in 2012, Caixin said.
He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general this July.
Meanwhile, Lieutenant General Zhang Shibo, the commander of the Beijing Military Area Command, has become president of the People’s Liberation Army National Defence University, the PLA’s highest military school.
Zhang was present at a meeting with the Central Military Commission vice chairman Fan Changlong at the university on Tuesday, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Zhang, 62, was only appointed as Beijing military commander in June after serving as head of the Hong Kong garrison since January 2008.
Lieutenant General Song Puxuan, former president at the university, has been appointed commander of Beijing Military Area Command, Caixin reported.
Song, 60, became president of the national defence university in July last year.
Before that, he was the deputy commander of the Nanjing military command.
Over the past few weeks dozens of top military cadres, including the commander and the political commissar of the key South Sea Fleet, have been caught up in the major reshuffle in the PLA.
The changes come after Xu Caihou, formerly the vice chairman of the country’s Military Commission, was expelled from the Communist Party in June after he was accused of taking bribes.
An article in the PLA Daily earlier this month said the crackdown on corruption in the military would continue in the wake of the investigation into Xu.
“The war against corruption cannot be lost,” the article said.