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Xi Appoints New Chief of China's Nuclear Arsenal


FILE - Military vehicles carrying DF-5B intercontinental ballistic missiles travel past Tiananmen Square during a military parade in Beijing, China, Oct. 1, 2019.
FILE - Military vehicles carrying DF-5B intercontinental ballistic missiles travel past Tiananmen Square during a military parade in Beijing, China, Oct. 1, 2019.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also the military's commander-in-chief, appointed a new head of the armed force overseeing the nation's conventional and nuclear missiles, Monday, one day before the anniversary of the People's Liberation Army.

Wang Houbin, former deputy commander of the navy, was named the new head of the PLA Rocket Force, and Xu Xisheng, its new political commissar, with both men acquiring the top rank of general, according to state media.

Until his move to the PLA Rocket Force, Wang had been deputy commander of the navy since 2020. He was previously also the deputy chief of staff for the navy.

Xu was formerly the deputy political commissar of the Southern Theater Command, one of the PLA's five theater commands.

State media did not say where the PLA Rocket Force's previous chief, Li Yuchao, was reassigned or state any news on his whereabouts.

The new appointments came a day ahead of the 96th anniversary of the PLA's founding on Aug. 1.

Xi has repeatedly urged the military to deepen war and combat planning to increase the chances of victory in actual combat to safeguard China's sovereignty and territory.

China says it is committed to a defensive nuclear strategy, and pledges to no first use of nuclear weapons. It says it will also not use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapon states or nuclear weapon free zones.

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    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

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