On May 10, Chinese media reported that People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy Rear Admiral Chen Yueqi (陳岳琪), commander of the Liaoning aircraft carrier group, would replace Major General Xiao Yunhong (肖運洪) as commander of the Guangxi Provincial Military District.
This news prompted widespread speculation, with some observers attributing it to internal struggles in the PLA in connection with relations between Chen and Admiral Wu Shengli (吳勝利). However, an analysis based on the general’s and admiral’s professional abilities and duties might offer new insights.
Chen served as commander of the South Sea Fleet’s 9th Marine Surveillance Flotilla, and in 2010 he was sent to escort commercial ships in the Gulf of Aden. In 2014, he took over as the second commander of the Liaoning group.
He was promoted to rear admiral in 2015 and his frequent appearances in Chinese news reports indicate that the PLA was cultivating him as a key officer.
Why has he been transferred to be commander of a provincial military district, a post that is usually entrusted to army officers? The answer might have to do with the mission of coastal provincial military districts.
These districts used to be managed by military regions, which were merged into larger theater commands in China’s 2016 military reforms.
Since then, the districts have been managed by the Central Military Commission’s National Defense Mobilization Department.
The main missions of the districts are to handle relations between the PLA and local authorities and to manage the militia, including the maritime militia in coastal provinces.
This would explain why rear admirals Wang Bin (王濱) and Wang Shouxin (王守信) were last year appointed as commanders of the Fujian and Guangdong provincial military districts, which face the East China Sea and the South China Sea. It makes sense to appoint commanders with a naval background, who can more effectively manage the maritime militia.
The latest transfer involves the Guangxi Provincial Military District, which faces the Gulf of Tonkin and borders Vietnam. It is therefore quite appropriate to appoint Chen, a veteran of the South Sea Fleet.
When the PLA Navy’s second aircraft carrier goes into service, it might be deployed in the South China Sea and stationed at the Yulin naval base near Sanya in Hainan Province. It would depend on the Guangxi and Guangdong provincial military districts for logistics, repair and maintenance.
As commander of the Liaoning carrier group, Chen was a corps deputy leader rear admiral, but as commander of the Guangxi Autonomous Region Military District he has been promoted to corps leader rear admiral.
Chen’s transfer to be a commander of a provincial military district, which is directly subordinate to the National Defense Mobilization Department, might further his career in that he would have a higher rank if he is transferred back to the navy.
Finally, the transfer can be seen from the perspective of the Southern Theater Command, whose commander, Yuan Yubai (袁譽柏), is a vice admiral, as is South Sea Fleet commander Wang Hai (王海), who preceded Chen as the Liaoning carrier group’s first commander.
Together with the naval backgrounds of the Guangxi and Guangdong provincial military districts commanders, this shows how the PLA plans to manage a potential war zone in the South China Sea.
Lin Ying-yu is an adjunct assistant professor in National Chung Cheng University’s Institute of Strategic and International Affairs.
Translated by Julian Clegg
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