He Weidong
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He Weidong | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
何卫东 | |||||||
| Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission | |||||||
| In office Party Commission: 23 October 2022 – 17 October 2025 State Commission: 11 March 2023 – 28 October 2025 | |||||||
| Chairman | Xi Jinping | ||||||
| Preceded by | Xu Qiliang | ||||||
| Succeeded by | Zhang Shengmin | ||||||
| Commander of the Eastern Theater Command | |||||||
| In office December 2019 – January 2022 | |||||||
| Preceded by | Liu Yuejun | ||||||
| Succeeded by | Lin Xiangyang | ||||||
| Commander of the Western Theater Command Ground Force | |||||||
| In office February 2016 – December 2019 | |||||||
| Preceded by | New title | ||||||
| Succeeded by | Xu Qiling | ||||||
| Commander of the Shanghai Garrison Command | |||||||
| In office March 2014 – February 2016 | |||||||
| Preceded by | Peng Shuigen | ||||||
| Succeeded by | Zhang Xiaoming | ||||||
| Commander of the Jiangsu Military District | |||||||
| In office July 2013 – March 2014 | |||||||
| Preceded by | Sun Xinliang | ||||||
| Succeeded by | Li Kerang | ||||||
| Personal details | |||||||
| Born | May 1957 (age 68) | ||||||
| Party | Chinese Communist Party (expelled in 2025) | ||||||
| Alma mater | PLA Nanjing Army Command College National University of Defense Technology | ||||||
| Military service | |||||||
| Allegiance |  People's Republic of China | ||||||
| Branch/service |  People's Liberation Army Ground Force | ||||||
| Years of service | 1972–2025 | ||||||
| Rank |  General (stripped 2025) | ||||||
| Commands | Eastern Theater Command | ||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 何衛東 | ||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 何卫东 | ||||||
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He Weidong (Chinese: 何卫东; born May 1957) is a former general of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) who served as the Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Chinese Communist Party and member of the 20th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party from October 2022 until his removal on 17 October 2025.
He served as commander of the Eastern Theater Command from 2019 to 2022. He was promoted to the rank of major general in July 2008, lieutenant general in July 2017 and general in December 2019. He was considered to have been a part of the Fujian clique of the Xi Jinping faction within the CCP.[1]
He was dismissed by from his position of Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission sometime during 2025; expelled from the Chinese Communist Party and the People's Liberation Army on 17 October 2025. He was replaced by Zhang Shengmin.
Military career
He enlisted in the People's Liberation Army (PLA) in December 1972 after middle school. He was Commander of Jiangsu Military District in July 2013 and Shanghai Garrison Command in March 2014. In February 2015 he succeeded Zhu Shengling as a member of the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.[3] In July 2016 he was transferred to Deputy Commander of the Western Theater Command and Commander of the Western Theater Command Ground Force.[4] On February 24, 2018, he was elected as a deputy to the 13th National People's Congress.[5] In September 2019, he was promoted to become Commander of the Eastern Theater Command, replacing Liu Yuejun.[6][7]
Vice chairman of the Central Military Commission
In October 2022, Zhang was named as a member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party and the second-ranking vice chairman of the CCP Central Military Commission. He also became the vice chairman of the state CMC in March 2023.[8][9]
In January 2024, at the annual meeting of the disciplinary inspectors of the PLA, He said the military should "adhere to a strict tone, use stricter standards to scrutinize the key few, and show determination to get to the bottom of long-standing [corruption] problems". He also called on the CMC Commission for Discipline Inspection to maintain loyalty and support to CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping.[10] In March, during a discussion with a PLA delegation, He called on crackdowns on "fake combat capabilities".[11]
