China Promotes Taiwan-Focused Military Officers

By David Lague | The New York Times
October 10, 2007

China has promoted at least four senior military officers with experience in planning for war over Taiwan ahead of a major political meeting next week at which the Communist Party has said it will adopt a new strategy to stop the self-governing island moving toward independence.

In a move that was quietly handled even by the standards of China's secretive military, Beijing last month elevated Gen. Chen Bingde of the army to chief of the general staff, a post where he will exercise day-to-day operational command of the country's 2.3 million-strong armed forces.

As General Chen was promoted through the senior ranks in the 1980s and 1990s, he held a series of command posts in the Nanjing Military Region opposite Taiwan, where China has concentrated its preparations for any conflict over the island, according to official biographies and military analysts.

General Chen's previous post was director general of the general armaments department, where he led the rapid modernization of Chinese military hardware and the country's high-profile space program.

Gen. Xu Qiliang, a veteran air force pilot who served in a number of operational and staff posts in the Nanjing military region, was appointed head of the air force last month, state news media reported.

And state news media reported last month that another senior air force officer with command experience in the Nanjing region, Gen. Ma Xiaotian, had been promoted to deputy chief of the general staff.

In the earlier stages of a wider reshuffle of top posts through China's seven military regions, Adm. Wu Shengli was appointed last year to head the navy.

Admiral Wu has also held critical appointments that give him a solid grounding in naval operations in the Taiwan Strait.

Experts say these appointments are not designed specifically to threaten Taiwan but are part of China's overall military development where a top priority is enforcing the mainland's claim of sovereignty over the island if necessary.

"It sends a message more broadly that Beijing is enhancing its military capability to deal with Taiwan in any future conflict," said Andrew Yang, secretary general of the Chinese Council of Advanced Policy Studies, a Taipei-based security policy institute. "There is more emphasis on the quality of the commanders."

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