India is keeping a close eye on Chinese President Xi Jinping's "unusual and bizarre move" along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Xi Jinping has replaced the commander of the Western Theater Command (WTC) in just seven months of taking office. This WTC looks after the entire border with India. Shu Keeling, 56, commander of the WTC's infantry force, has been promoted to full general.At the same time, WTC chief General Zhang Sudong, 59, has been removed and replaced. The change comes amid a continuing military confrontation in eastern Ladakh since April-May last year. Earlier, in December last year, General Zhao Dzongki retired at the age of 85 as head of the WTC. Zhang Sudong was then appointed head of the WTC. This was reported by the online Times of India.
A senior Indian official said no member of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) had ever been removed in just seven months. What is happening now is precisely unusual. This is virtually the third change in the WTC since the Army's confrontation with India.
With the exception of Shoe Killing, everyone in the PLA has described him as a rising star and the youngest general. Three more are to be promoted on Monday. They are Wang Xubin, commander of the Southern Theater, Liu Zhenli, commander of the PLA Army, and Xu Qiansheng, commander of the PLA Strategic Support (Missile) Force.
Indian officials say the change in the WTC is immature. The WTC is the largest of the five Chinese theater commands. They guarded the entire 347-kilometer border along the Line of Actual Control from eastern Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh. On the other hand, there is no unified theater command on India's northern border with China. There are four army and three air force commands on the northern border.
A government official said the Chinese Communist Party may have removed Zhang Sudong as part of a phased anti-corruption campaign, or for some reason linked to the crisis over China's border with India. "We have to wait and see," he said.
It may be mentioned that on April 9, India and China held talks at the corps commander level. The 12th meeting is to be held again three months later. With that meeting in mind, China has made changes to the WTC. Earlier, President Xi Jinping took Shu Killing by the hand. He is also the powerful chairman of the country's Central Military Commission (CMC). The CMC controls the PLA. Shoe Keeling will now be the overall leader of the WTC. Under him, talks or de-escalation of border tensions between India and China will escalate.
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