China has a new military secretary? Government personnel testify to this: the report

If reports are to be believed, China has a new military secretary who participated in President Xi Jinping’s recent inspection visits to People’s Liberation Army (PLA) units.

A report by the South China Morning Post (SCMP) on Saturday (October 26) said that Lt. Gen. Fang Yunxiang, the apparent military secretary, was part of a group that accompanied President Xi during his visit to an unspecified PLA missile force brigade last week. .

The report said footage released by state media showed Lt. Gen. Fan, 58, standing at arm’s length as Xi spoke to several senior commanders at the base.

A close-up shot revealed that Fang, along with General Zhang Yuxia, were the only two generals alongside the Chinese President not wearing missile uniforms.

But this isn’t the first time Fang has been seen with Xi.

The SCMP report said Fan was seen next to the president in state media footage during his visit to the April Military Medical University in Chongqing.

In addition to being a PLA lieutenant general, Fang is also an alternate member of the Communist Party’s Central Committee, China’s highest policy-making body.

Fan was born in Xiamen in 1966. The SCMP report says his military career began in 1989. His career in Fujian coincided with Xi’s stay there for more than a decade.

The report added that Fan started out as a platoon leader and company commander of the 31st Army Group, which controls the Taiwan Strait and the East China Sea.

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He rose through various leadership positions to become the political director of the 31st Group and then a member of its main standing leadership committee in 2014.

He also led political and party work at the Eastern Theater Command from 2015 to 2017 before being appointed as the Communist Party Commander of the 81st Army Group.

In 2018, the 58-year-old was promoted to deputy minister in the newly created Department of Veterans Affairs, a position he held until 2022.

Also in 2022, Fan was appointed political commissar of the Southern Theater Command, which covers key regions including the South China Sea.

(Courtesy of agencies)