New members of China Central Military Commission know Taiwan well: MoD
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Taiwanese Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng says that the new lineup of the Chinese Central Military Commission are young and experienced and well informed on Taiwan which might indicate a tougher policy towards the island by Beijing
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New members of the Politburo Standing Committee, from left, Li Xi, Cai Qi, Zhao Leji, President Xi Jinping, Li Qiang, Wang Huning, and Ding Xuexiang are introduced at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Oct. 23, 2022 (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)
Taiwanese Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng said on Monday that the new members of the Military Commission of the Communist Party of China (CCP) Central Committee are young, informed on Taiwan, and more experienced in several areas, including the military field, which might indicate that China is aiming to move forward with a tighter policy on the island.
The Central Committee of the CPC announced on Sunday a new lineup for the Central Military Commission (CMC).
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The Central Military Commission is the highest-ranking authority in the Chinese military, the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA). Chinese President Xi Jinping maintained his position as the Chief of the CMC, as did his vice chairman General Zhang Youxia, while He Weidong, who was commanding the recent exercises neat Taiwan and former commander of the PLA's Eastern Theater Command, was assigned as second vice chairman.
The other members of the newly chosen CMC are General Li Shangfu, who was the director of the Xichang Satellite Launch Center for more than 3 decades, as well as Admiral Miao Hua who accumulated years of career experience working in the Nanjing Military Region bordering Taiwan, and General Zhang Shengmin who was part of the PLA rocker force for most of his career, as well as General Liu Zhenli who took part in the conflicts with Vietnam on a combat level.
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The ages of the newly assigned members range between 58 and 67.
In an address to the Taiwanese national parliament, the Defense Minister of Taiwan stated that "Most of the members have experience working at the grassroots level, such training, as well as a relatively young age, allow them to be involved for quite a long time. It looks like the Communist Party is carrying out some kind of preparation," noting that the new CMC members are experienced officers of the rocket, air, ground, and navy forces, in addition to some of them holding experience in technologies and the aerospace industry, while the majority of them possess direct experience in carrying out military drills near Taiwan.
"This suggests that in the future they may pursue a tougher policy on this issue," the minister said, adding that Taiwan will keep an eye on changes occurring in the CMC that might indicate policy directions of China towards the island.
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2,300 delegates from China gathered at the Beijing Great Hall of the People for the congress, whereat they will amend the constitution, and appoint the next party leader on October 16 and ended on October 23rd with the reelection of Chinese President Xi Jinping for a third five-year term as General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
The congress, which is held by China's Communist Party (CCP), takes place every five years, while this year's event marked the 20th since the party's founding in 1921.
Since early August, China has carried out several large-scale military exercises near Taiwan in response to the visits of high-ranking US officials to the island.
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US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taipei in August also led China to announce ending cooperation with the United States on a number of issues such as climate change, anti-drug efforts, and military talks.
Taiwan is increasingly being used by the West in order to provoke Beijing. Despite China and the US having agreed decades ago on the "one-China policy", whereby the People's Republic of China was recognized as the official representative of the Chinese people instead of Taiwan, the US has been increasing its overt ties with the island and increasing weapons sales as well. Furthermore, Western ships have been constantly sailing the Taiwan Strait in a move to challenge Chinese sovereignty over the island while threatening to support Taiwan militarily against China.
