General Zhang Xudong has been appointed the new commander of the PLA's Western Theatre Command (WTC), replacing General Zhao Zongqi. Here's all you need to know about Zhang Xudong:

While Xudong has no experience of Tibet or Xinjiang (under WTC), he has served many years in the erstwhile sensitive Shenyang MR, responsible for the borders with North Korea and Russia.

Four officers of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, including two political commissars and one from the People's Armed Police, were promoted to the rank of General at a ceremony held at the PLA's Bayi headquarters building in Beijing on December 18.

Among them was General Zhang Xudong, who has been appointed the new commander of the PLA's Western Theatre Command (WTC), replacing General Zhao Zongqi. WTC is the largest of the PLA's five Theatre Commands, and for India, the site of the ongoing standoff.

With the Chinese intruding into Ladakh in May 2020, the ongoing confrontation stretches from Daulat Beg Oldi and Qizil Jilga to Chushul, Demchok and Chumar, passing through the Pangong Tso. The PLA has now formally laid claim to almost the whole of Ladakh.

Xudong's Military Record

The motive behind the promotions, touted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as routine, is veiled in secrecy. Global media knows little about Xudong, and a change of guard at WTC might indicate a stronger push to Chinese premier Xi Jinping's agenda of controlling the occupied areas of Eastern Ladakh, Tibet and East Turkestan, now known as Xinjiang.

The newly appointed Western Theatre commander's responsibilities include protecting China's 4,057 km-long disputed land frontier with India. The Chinese have over the years been claiming tracts of Indian territories along the border, with Ladakh being the scene of intense fighting in 1962 and friction thereafter.

The significance of the promotions could be gauged from the fact that Jinping himself attended the event held in the Chinese defence ministry's famous Bayi building, located near Bayi lake in Beijing.

But while Xudong has no experience of Tibet or Xinjiang (under WTC), he has served many years in the erstwhile sensitive Shenyang MR, responsible for the borders with North Korea and Russia.

While serving in the Shenyang MR, Xudong served in prestigious military formations, commanded a division and was later Chief of Staff before being promoted as Commander of the 39th Group Army.

From March 2017 to January 2018, he served as commander of the PLA Army (Ground Forces) of the Central Theatre Command, which is responsible for the security of China's capital Beijing. In February 2018, he was appointed deputy commander of the Central Theatre Command. Xudong was also the deputy commander of the Joint Command Headquarters of the 70th anniversary National Day Parade in October 2019. His appointment as WTC commander was first announced publicly at the promotion ceremony this December.

Xudong's political reliability is obviously highly rated. While commanding 115 Division, he was deputy secretary of the Party Committee of the 39th Group Army Infantry and later a member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee of 40th and 39th Group Armies.

Following his appointments as Central Military Commission (CMC) chairman, Chinese Communist Party general secretary and President of China, Xi Jinping had announced at the very first enlarged meeting of CMC that political reliability will be the single most important criteria for promotion.

Xudong earned his promotions during Xi's tenure as vice-chairman and subsequently chairman of the CMC. He was promoted to the rank of Major General in July 2012, and in July 2018, to the rank of Lieutenant General.

India should expect no easing of tension consequent to Xudong's appointment as WTC commander since such decisions flow from the CMC. In the case of India, which is a powerful neighbour, it is Xi who is orchestrating the developments. But while Xudong could certainly submit recommendations to the CMC, he will have limited scope for determining its actions.

Why WTC Is Important For China

WTC, which merged the erstwhile Lanzhou and Chengdu Military Regions (MRs), comprises more than half of China's land area, 22 per cent of its population and over a third of China's land-based military.

Establishment of the new WTC strengthened China's military force deployment opposite India. China's idea of merging Lanzhou and Chengdu MRs was to improve joint planning, coordination and operations.

Incorporation of the Qinghai plateau region in WTC will facilitate rapid induction and deployment of high altitude-acclimatised and -trained troops into Tibet and across Chinese-occupied Ladakh.

The other three promotees apart from Xudong were General Guo Puxiao, political commissar of CMC's logistics support department; General Li Wei, political commissar of the Strategic Support Force; and General Wang Chun Ning, commander of the Armed Police Force.

But it is Xudong who will be closely watched by India, for he is now responsible for implementing the remainder of Xi's military plans in Ladakh and other disputed areas.