China Appoints New Military Executives After Predecessors’ Months of ‘Disappearance’

Military delegates walk together as they arrive at the closing session of the NPC, or National Peoples Congress at the Great Hall of the People on March 11, 2024 in Beijing, China. Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) authorities have announced the appointment of two new military-industrial corporation executives to replace their predecessors who have been reportedly placed under investigation and “missing“ from the public eye since last year.

According to CCP mouthpiece CCTV, on April 12, China Aerospace Science & Industry Corporation (CASIC) held a staff management meeting, and an officer from the Organization Department of the Central Committee, the Party’s core power body, announced the appointment of Chen Ximing as the new chairman and Party head.

Likewise, on the same day, the organization department announced at a meeting convened by the China Ordnance Equipment Group Corporation, also known as China South Industries Group Corporation (CSGC), that  Zhang Yujin had been appointed as the new director, general manager, and deputy head of the Party.

The two vital titles have remained vacant for over half a year amidst the CCP authority’s purge of senior military staff.

Yuan Jie, Mr. Chen’s predecessor, was last seen on Sept. 3, 2023, visiting various units under the Sichuan Aerospace Science and Technology Group, while Chen Guoying, Mr. Zhang’s predecessor, last appeared publicly on July 25, 2023, meeting with leaders of Nanyang City, Henan Province.

CCP policymakers didn’t mention any information about the two dismissed military executives at gatherings in CASIC and CSGC.

U.S.-based current affairs analyst Chen Pokong told The Epoch Times on April 19 that not only the military-industrial enterprises but also the top brass of all branches of the CCP military, such as the Rocket Force, the Strategic Resource Corps, the General Armaments Department, and the Ministry of National Defense, are all involved in all kinds of discipline breaks such as embezzlement, military leaks, and other types of indiscipline seen as betrayal of the CCP.

On Oct. 24, 2022, the China Aerospace Studies Institute (CASI) at the U.S. Air Force University released a report on the Chinese Rocket Force exposing the organizational structure from the high-level command system to the back-end product bases.

The report has prompted the CCP to investigate possible information leaks at the top of the military and to embark on a prolonged personnel reshuffle.

“It was such a scandal for the CCP that the authorities classified it as a state secret and avoided mentioning the investigations publicly,” Mr. Chen Pokong said.

Ceaseless Military Purges

In March this year, the CCP revoked the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) membership for several top military-industrial executives. Among them were Wu Yansheng, former chairman of the board of directors of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC); Wang Changqing, former deputy general manager of CASC; Wang Xiaojun, former head of the first research institute of the CASC, and Liu Shiquan, former chairman of the board of directors of China Ordnance Industries Group Corporation Limited.

(L-R) Newly-elected Chinese state councilor Qin Gang, state councilor and secretary-general of the State Council Wu Zhenglong, state councilor Li Shangfu swear an oath during the fifth plenary session of the National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 12, 2023. Noel Celis/AFP via Getty Images

The move is widely seen as another purge after the removal of Li Shangfu and many military officials over recent years.

Yao Cheng, a former lieutenant colonel in the CCP’s Navy Command who now lives in the U.S., alleged on social media platform X on April 16 that a batch of generals had been investigated, including the vice commander of the Army, Lt. Gen. Deng Zhiping, who was taken away by the disciplinary committee of the military commission at the station when he came back from a meeting in Nanjing. Also arrested on the same day were Major General He Yuehua, deputy political commissar of the Eastern Theater Naval Forces, and Major General Deng Hongqin, commander of the Xichang Satellite Launch Base of the Rocket Force.

Mr. Yao told The Epoch Times on April 19 that the news he acquired from a former colleague in the army is reliable.

According to Mr. Yao, Party leader  Xi Jinping would not stop arresting army officials, causing the number of fallen officials to increase as “once one military head is removed from the top, many others will be implicated.”

“Xi only wants to turn the military into his own by cleaning up the army thoroughly,” said Mr. Yao, adding that the CCP’s military is of a gang system, and Xi’s attempts are doomed to be futile.

Party’s Army and Xi’s Army

According to Mr. Chen, Xi has paved the way for realizing “Xi’s army.” He cited a recent viral video showing that the oath of the Chinese soldiers has been changed from “serve the people” to “serve the Chinese Communist Party.”

The Epoch Times could not independently verify the video.

Mr. Chen believes this is a step forward in Xi’s efforts to consolidate his military power. He may strengthen a military that is “loyal only to the Party,” with the ultimate goal of being loyal to the Party’s supreme leader, that is, to become his army alone. “Like North Korea. North Korea’s slogan is to defend the Kim regime, and Kim Jong-un and Xi will probably fly along this path, which is only being explored now.”

On the other hand, Mr. Chen surmised that Xi had no confidence in the army’s control. His continued crackdown on the military is a stopgap measure, and disloyalty and corruption will last until the end of the CCP.

“Unless there is a political system reform, however, which is almost impossible for the dictatorial communist rulers.”

Xin Ning contributed to this article.