Chinese President Xi Jinping has appointed General Wang Haijiang as the new Commander of the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) Western Theatre Command (WTC), which oversees the borders with India, official media reported in Beijing.

This new appointment, marks a rather unusual third change in the command’s leadership in the past nine months amid the continuing stand-off along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with India.

It is to be noted that General Wang of China visited India in 2016, heading a PLA contingent for a hand-in-hand anti-terrorism exercise.

Wang has also served as the head of China’s Tibet military region, which is part of the WTC.

Xi, who is the Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), on Monday “presented certificates of order at a ceremony to promote five senior military officers to the rank of general”, the highest rank for officers in service.

“The promoted officers are Commander of the Western Theatre Command of the People’s Liberation Army Wang Haijiang, Commander of the PLA Central Theatre Command Lin Xiangyang, Commander of the PLA Navy Dong Jun, Commander of the PLA Air Force Chang Dingqiu, and President of the PLA National Defence University Xu Xueqiang,” the state media said.

General Xu Qiliang, vice chairman of the CMC, announced the orders of promotion signed by Xi, and General Zhang Youxia, also CMC vice chairman, presided over the ceremony.

General Wei Fenghe, General Li Zuocheng, Admiral Miao Hua, and General Zhang Shengmin, who are members of the CMC, also attended the ceremony in the capital city of China, the military statement said.

General Wang is the fourth commander to head the Western Theatre Command, since the eastern Ladakh standoff began in May last year. 

Image courtesy: Reuters