He Weidong
He Weidong (Chinese: 何卫东; born May 1957) is a general (shangjiang) of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) who is currently the second-ranked vice chairman of the Central Military Commission and member of the 20th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party. He served as commander of the Eastern Theater Command from 2019 to 2022. He was promoted to the rank of major general (shaojiang) in July 2008, lieutenant general (zhongjiang) in July 2017 and general (shangjiang) in December 2019. EducationHe was born in Nanping, Fujian, with ancestry was in the town of Xuhe, in Dongtai, Jiangsu in May 1957. In 1981 he graduated from PLA Nanjing Army Command College. In 2001 he entered the National University of Defense Technology.[citation needed] Military careerHe enlisted in the People's Liberation Army (PLA) in December 1972 after middle school. He was Commander of Jiangsu Military District in July 2013 and Shanghai Garrison in March 2014. In February 2015 he succeeded Zhu Shengling as a member of the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.[1] In July 2016 he was transferred to Deputy Commander of the Western Theater Command and Commander of the Western Theater Command Ground Force.[2] In September 2019 he was promoted to become Commander of the Eastern Theater Command, replacing Liu Yuejun.[3][4] He was a delegate to the 13th National People's Congress.[citation needed] Vice Chairman of the Central Military CommissionIn October 2022, Zhang was named as a member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party and the second-ranking vice chairman of the CCP Central Military Commission. He also became the vice chairman of the state CMC in March 2023.[5][6] In January 2024, at the annual meeting of the disciplinary inspectors of the PLA, He said the military should "adhere to a strict tone, use stricter standards to scrutinize the key few, and show determination to get to the bottom of long-standing [corruption] problems". He also called on the CMC Commission for Discipline Inspection to maintain loyalty and support to CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping.[7] In March, during a discussion with a PLA delegation, He called on crackdowns on "fake combat capabilities".[8] References
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