Xi imprint on PLA delegates to the party’s 19th Congress | Sunday Guardian | Oct 7 2017
That's that little canard put to rest
Yep, no such thing as rogue PLA commanders
Quite the change
As DOR said
Chinese President and Military Commission Chairman Xi Jinping’s imprint is clearly visible on the list of the 253 delegates selected by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to represent it at the 19th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) scheduled to open in Beijing on 18 October 2017.
Coinciding with the release of the list of PLA delegates on 6 September 2017, China’s authoritative official news agency Xinhua clarified that the candidates from among whom the delegates were selected by members of the CCP in the PLA had been approved by Xi Jinping in May 2017, or more than three months earlier and well before the face-off with India on the Doklam plateau began.
This confirms that Xi Jinping had decided to replace General Fang Fenghui as Chief of the Joint Staff Department under the Central Military Commission (CMC) and General Zhang Yang, former Director of the PLA’s General Political Department, with his nominees much earlier.
It also confirms that reports claiming that Fang Fenghui had been removed because he was opposed to the withdrawal of troops from the over 70-day long face-off with India on the Doklam Plateau are without basis.
Coinciding with the release of the list of PLA delegates on 6 September 2017, China’s authoritative official news agency Xinhua clarified that the candidates from among whom the delegates were selected by members of the CCP in the PLA had been approved by Xi Jinping in May 2017, or more than three months earlier and well before the face-off with India on the Doklam plateau began.
This confirms that Xi Jinping had decided to replace General Fang Fenghui as Chief of the Joint Staff Department under the Central Military Commission (CMC) and General Zhang Yang, former Director of the PLA’s General Political Department, with his nominees much earlier.
It also confirms that reports claiming that Fang Fenghui had been removed because he was opposed to the withdrawal of troops from the over 70-day long face-off with India on the Doklam Plateau are without basis.
Similarly interesting is the inclusion among the delegates of Major General Liu Geping, Commander of the PLA Ali Military Sub-District under the Western Theatre Command.
Liu Geping was Commander of the Ali Military Sub-District in April 2013 and again in September 2014, when PLA troops carried out extended intrusions into the Depsang plains and Chumar, both in Ladakh.
In April 2013, the intrusion, and ensuing stand-off, was called off just days before the arrival of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in India. The intrusion by PLA troops at Chumar in Ladakh coincided and continued till well after Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to India in September 2014.
Liu Geping’s promotion as Major General and listing as a delegate suggest his career is on track and dismiss reports that these and similar intrusions do not have the approval of Xi Jinping and the CMC.
Liu Geping was Commander of the Ali Military Sub-District in April 2013 and again in September 2014, when PLA troops carried out extended intrusions into the Depsang plains and Chumar, both in Ladakh.
In April 2013, the intrusion, and ensuing stand-off, was called off just days before the arrival of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in India. The intrusion by PLA troops at Chumar in Ladakh coincided and continued till well after Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to India in September 2014.
Liu Geping’s promotion as Major General and listing as a delegate suggest his career is on track and dismiss reports that these and similar intrusions do not have the approval of Xi Jinping and the CMC.
Ninety per cent of the PLA and PAP delegates are new
The failure of Fang Fenghui and Zhang Yang to make the list of the PLA delegates when other CMC members due to retire at the upcoming 19th Congress, like Chang Wanquan, Wu Shengli, Ma Xiaotian and Fan Changlong are included, lends credence to reports circulating since mid-August that the two are under investigation on charges of corruption.
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