As the 20th plenary session of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee is about to convene, He Hongjun, Deputy Director of the Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission, was recently promoted to the rank of General and made his first public appearance as the Executive Deputy Director of the Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission. Political analysts believe that He Hongjun’s unusual and even out-of-turn promotion is rare. President Xi Jinping promoting He to the rank of General before the plenary session suggests that there may be significant adjustments or even restructuring at the level of the Central Military Commission during the upcoming session.
On July 9, the Chinese Communist Party held a promotion ceremony where He Hongjun, Executive Deputy Director of the Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission, was promoted to the rank of General. This marks the second promotion to the rank of General by the Chinese Communist Party in 2024. In March of this year, Wang Renhua, Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee of the Central Military Commission, and Xiao Tianliang, President of the National Defense University, were promoted to the rank of General.
Public information shows that He Hongjun, over 62 years old and from Yang County, Hanzhong City, Shaanxi Province, has served as a political commissar of a division in the Xinjiang Military Region, director of the Political Department of the Qinghai Provincial Military Region, and deputy minister of the General Political Department and director of the Department of Veterans. In May 2017, He Hongjun was appointed as Assistant Director of the Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission; in the first half of 2019, He was promoted to the rank of Deputy Theater Level. In October 2019, He Hongjun appeared on the list of the leading group for the seventh national population census announced by the State Council as Deputy Director of the Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission.
At the same time as his promotion to the rank of General, He Hongjun also made his first public appearance as the Executive Deputy Director of the Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission.
The current members of the Central Military Commission are Navy Admiral Miao Hua, who is the Director of the Political Work Department of the Military Commission. Miao Hua, over 68 years old and from Rugao, Nantong, Jiangsu Province, was born in Fuzhou, Fujian Province. In addition to Deputy Director of the Political Work Department He Hongjun, at least Air Force Major General Wang Chengnan is also included.
The Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission was established as one of the functional departments of the Central Military Commission after the so-called military reform at the end of 2015, mainly responsible for the organization, political education, and military human resources management of the entire army.
Political commentator Chen Pokong believes that He Hongjun’s unprecedented and even out-of-turn promotion is rare. On July 12, Chen Pokong told Epoch Times reporters that typically promoted Generals in the Chinese Communist Party are the commanders and political commissars of theaters, or the heads of the former four general headquarters (the former General Staff, Political Department, Logistics Department, and Equipment Department), while He Hongjun’s position is unusual. Furthermore, the typical timing for promoting Generals in the Chinese Communist Party is on the eve of the so-called “August 1st Army Day,” making He Hongjun’s promotion before the plenary session highly unusual. This suggests that there may be significant changes or reorganization within the Central Military Commission at the upcoming plenary session.
Chen Pokong explained that He Hongjun, previously the Deputy Director of the Political Work Department of the Military Commission, being promoted to the rank of General with relatively shallow qualifications is already out of the ordinary. What is even more unconventional is that in order to strengthen He Hongjun’s position, not only was he promoted to the rank of General, but he was also elevated to Executive Deputy Director of the Political Work Department at the same time. Chen Pokong believes that this move is aimed at marginalizing and supplanting Miao Hua. In other words, during the plenary session, Miao Hua may be forced to step down, with He Hongjun potentially taking his place. He Hongjun may even make a three-level jump, moving from Executive Deputy Director to Director of the Political Work Department, and then entering the Central Military Commission.
“Therefore, the plenary session may bring astonishing changes,” Chen Pokong said. “The astonishing change is that the Central Military Commission may undergo a major reshuffle. Not only may the member position left by former Defense Minister Li Shangfu be taken over by the current Defense Minister Dong Jun, Miao Hua may also be forced out, with someone else replacing him in his member position on the Military Commission, with He Hongjun being one of the potential candidates.”
Former Chinese Defense Ministers Li Shangfu and Wei Fenghe were expelled from the Chinese Communist Party and stripped of their rank of General on June 27 this year. Since July 2023, Xi Jinping has launched a major cleansing operation in the Chinese Communist Party’s military. At least a dozen generals from various branches of the military, including Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu, were removed.
Chen Pokong also stated that Miao Hua was targeted because of his high rank and influence, as he is in charge of personnel matters in the military, with many of those promoted coming from the Navy, such as Wang Houbin, former Deputy Commander of the Navy now reassigned as Commander of the Rocket Army, and the new Defense Minister Dong Jun, formerly the Navy Commander. Therefore, regardless of whether Miao Hua has acted against Xi, his high rank and influence alone have raised suspicions from Xi Jinping.
Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese Democratic Party, Wang Juntao, told Epoch Times reporters that He Hongjun is a political officer in the Chinese Communist Party’s military, responsible for the ideological rectification and discipline within the military. He Hongjun’s rapid promotion indicates that Xi Jinping has important tasks to assign to him. If he were only a Major General, it would be very difficult for him to handle the affairs of a General, as some matters must be handled by a General. Additionally, after He Hongjun becomes the Executive Deputy Director of the Political Work Department of the Military Commission, his power will be greatly enhanced. If he is in charge of rectifying military discipline, it means that a large number of people will face being purged.
He Hongjun is the second political officer in the Chinese Communist Party’s military to be promoted to the rank of General. Before him, Wang Renhua, a member of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee of the Central Military Commission, was promoted to General in March of this year.
The Political and Legal Affairs Committee of the Chinese Communist Party’s Military Commission is one of the 15 functional departments of the Central Military Commission, reorganized and established after the military reform at the end of 2015 to lead and manage the Party’s political and legal work throughout the military. After the CCP’s military reform, three generals have served as Secretaries of the Military Commission’s Political and Legal Affairs Committee, including Li Xiaofeng (Major General), Song Dan (Major General), and Wang Renhua (General). The promotion of Wang Renhua, who held the rank of Major General in his previous position, was a clear out-of-turn promotion. Some analysts believed that Xi Jinping’s promotion of Wang Renhua set a precedent, sending a strong signal that Xi Jinping’s large-scale purge is not over, and he aims to further strengthen his control over the military through these promotions.
On July 10, the day after He Hongjun was promoted to General, the Central Military Commission issued a document emphasizing “political construction.”
The document calls for “deepening the political training of the military,” considering it a “serious and important political task.” The document emphasizes the need to “continuously rectify ideology, personnel, organization, style, and discipline,” with a particular focus on “senior Party committees and senior cadres,” requiring loyalty from the cadres. The document repeatedly uses the phrase “always,” demanding the military to “provide a strong political guarantee for building a strong military.”
Chen Pokong commented that these statements carry underlying messages all pointing towards purging personnel, especially emphasizing the need to focus on “senior Party committees and senior cadres,” indicating that those at the top levels are the target. Additionally, the repeated mention of “always producing talented individuals” implies the need to cultivate new personnel. He believes that the current editorials or notices issued by the CCP all hint at the upcoming plenary session, setting the stage for personnel changes within the Central Military Commission.
Wang Juntao also stated that Xi Jinping has been using the rhetoric of “political construction” to carry out the purge within the military. He believes that the plenary session will involve a large-scale cleansing, with Xi Jinping likely to remove officials who are not willing to cooperate with him or accept his ideas.