CHINA-PLA: NEW ANTICIPATED APPOINTMENTS

The South China Morning Post reported on August 23, 2017, that 60-year old Lt General Ding Laihang is expected to be appointed the next Commander of the PLA Air Force (PLAAF). He is presently Commander of Air Force in the Northern Theatre Command. He was Airr force commander of the Shenyang Military Region from 2012. Ding  Laihang graduated from the PLA’s Air Force Command College. He became President of the college in 2007 and a year later took over as Air Force Chief of Staff of the then Chengdu Military Command. Two other rising stars in the PLAAF and contenders for the top job are 59-year Lieutenant General Yi Xiaoguang, Deputy Chief of the Joint Staff and 55 year Lieutenant General Ma Zhenjun, Chief of Staff of the PLAAF. 

(Comment: Ding Laihang’s career overlapped with Xi Jinping’s in Fujian province in the early 2000s. In 2001, Ding Laihang became Chief of Staff of the Eighth Corps based in Fuzhou, and the same year went on to head the air force in the city. Xi Jinping was Governor of the province from 2000 to 2002.)Fujian province in the early 2000s. In 2001, Ding became chief of staff of the Eighth Corps based in Fuzhou, and the same year went on to lead the air force in the city.







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