Beijing announced today that Zhang Shengmin (張升民) would be promoted to vice chair of the Central Military Commission (CMC), making him China’s second-highest ranking general.
The move came at the conclusion of the fourth plenum of the 20th party congress, a four-day meeting in Beijing that had been watched closely for clues about the Chinese Communist Party’s recent personnel shake-up. Speculation had been especially intense around the question of who would replace He Weidong (何衛東), the previous CMC vice chair who was officially expelled for corruption charges on October 17.
Since 2017, Zhang has served as the Chinese military’s top anti-corruption officer, heading up disciplinary inspections for the CMC. Zhang spent most of his career in the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force, the branch of the Chinese military responsible for long-range missiles. The Rocket Force has been ground zero for anti-corruption purges in recent months, as Xi Jinping (習近平) has replaced a slew of high-ranking officials. Now, he has promoted a member of the force to China’s second-highest military position.
Zhang is a member of the “Shaanxi Gang,” a faction within the People’s Liberation Army whose influence derives from their common origins with Xi. Both Zhang Shengmin and Zhang Youxia (張又俠), the senior vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, hail from Shaanxi province. Zhang Youxia’s father served with Xi’s father in the Chinese Civil War. In April, Domino Theory reported that if Zhang Shengmin rose to vice chair, it would mean total domination of the Central Military Commission for the “Shaanxi Gang.”
Xi’s other major base of support in the People’s Liberation Army, the “Fujian Clique,” which derives its influence from the time Xi spent in the southeastern province of Fujian early in his political career, has now been left without a foothold in China’s most powerful military body.
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