[NTDTV, Beijing time, September 24, 2022]The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China is scheduled to be held next month, and the Central Military Commission will face a reelection. At a military high-level meeting held in Beijing a few days ago, the chairman of the Central Military Commission, Xi Jinping, did not show up, but revealed some signals of high-level personnel adjustments.
According to Xinhua News Agency and other official media reports, on September 21, the CCP’s “National Defense and Military Reform Seminar” was held in Beijing. Although Xi Jinping, who is also the chairman of the Central Military Commission, and Wei Fenghe, the defense minister, did not show up, almost all other heads of military agencies were there.
Li Qiaoming changed his chest badge to be appointed army commander
CCTV news footage showed that at this military high-level meeting, the positions of some senior generals seemed to have changed.
Among them, 61-year-old Li Qiaoming rarely showed up after resigning as the commander of the Northern Theater Command, and he wore an Army chest badge and sat in the front row, leaning against Army Commander Liu Zhenli. On the one hand, it broke the rumor that Li Qiaoming was involved in the “coup”, and on the other hand, it shows that he is still trusted by Xi Jinping.
Tang Jingyuan, a current affairs commentator and host of “Foresight Quick Review”, analyzed that at the meeting, Li Qiaoming appeared wearing an army chest badge and sat next to Liu Zhenli. It can be seen that Liu is wearing the chest badge of the Central Military Commission, so this arrangement shows that Liu Zhenli is likely to be promoted to the next Military Commission, and Li Qiaoming will replace Liu Zhenli as the army commander. Earlier rumors such as Li Qiaoming’s mutiny were not accurate.
Hong Kong media predicts candidates for military commission
According to an analysis by Hong Kong media “Sing Tao Daily” on September 23, 58-year-old army commander Liu Zhenli is rumored to succeed Li Zuocheng as the chief of staff of the Joint Staff Department of the Military Commission.
In addition, He Weidong, who stepped down as the commander of the Eastern Theater Command in January this year, has the armbands “up four and eight down”, with the “Central Military Commission” on the top and the “Joint Operations Command Center” on the bottom. The Joint Reference Center of the Central Military Commission is the highest operational command organization of the Communist Army, with Xi Jinping personally serving as the commander-in-chief. The 65-year-old He Weidong is still serving overage years and cannot be ruled out as a candidate for the vice chairman of the Military Commission.
The result of Sing Tao’s speculation is that after the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the new vice-chairmen of the Military Commission should be: Miao Hua and He Weidong. The members of the Central Military Commission are expected to be: Li Shangfu (Minister of Defense), Liu Zhenli (Chief of Staff of the Joint Staff Department), Zhang Shengmin (Director of the Political Work Department) and so on. According to Sing Tao’s analysis, the above predictions may be different, but they should be the core members of the new military commission.
The “seven up and eight down” card positions will be replaced by four members of the Military Commission
At present, the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China has set up seven members, among which Xi Jinping is the chairman of the Central Military Commission, Xu Qiliang and Zhang Youxia are the vice-chairmen, and the members of the Central Military Commission are Wei Fenghe, Li Zuocheng, Miao Hua, and Zhang Shengmin.
According to the unwritten rules of the CCP’s top leaders (re-elected at 67 and retired at 68), after the 20th National Congress, with the exception of Xi Jinping, who will be re-elected by exception, 4 of the other 6 people will be in this year’s 20th National Congress. Retired, they are two vice-chairmen of the Central Military Commission (72-year-old Xu Qiliang and Zhang Youxia), and two members of the Central Military Commission (68-year-old Defense Minister Wei Fenghe, 69-year-old Chief of Staff Li Zuocheng).
If the number of the CMC remains unchanged after the 20th National Congress, in addition to Xi Jinping’s re-election, only Miao Hua, director of the Political Work Department of the CMC, and Zhang Shengmin, secretary of the Military Discipline Inspection Commission, can remain in office.
Prior to this, Nikkei Asia reported on September 13 that Xi was expected to reiterate his vision for Taiwan’s reunification during the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, but many officials in the military were reluctant to resort to force. achieve this goal. As a result, Xi will promote officials loyal to him in order to pave the way for his decision on Taiwan.
(Editor in charge: Wen Hui)
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