Liang Guanglie

General Liang Guanglie (梁光烈) (1942-) is the Defence Minister of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), a member of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and a State Councillor (senior cabinet member). Liang ranks No.4 in the military command hierarchy, responsible for the daily running of the PLA. General Liang was appointed his current position in 2008. Before that he was the Chief of General Staff of the PLA, and General Secretary of the Party committee of the General Staff Department (GSD). General Liang is one of the few senior officials in the PLA with war experience, having served as the acting commander in the western front during the 1979 Sino-Vietnam border conflict.

Liang was born in December 1942 in Sichuan Province and joined the PLA at age 18 in January 1958. Between 1958 and 1970, he served in the 1st Division / 1st Army, starting from an ordinary soldier and gradually moved up to staff roles in the division headquarters. He joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1959. Between 1970 and 1979, Liang served in the Operations Department in the Wuhan Military Region (MR) Headquarters. Liang participated the 1979 Sino-Vietnamese border conflict, first as the deputy commander and later as the acting commander of the PLA’s western front.

After the conflict, Liang served in the 58th Division of the 20th Army, first as the deputy division commander and later as the division commander. From 1983 to 1990, Liang served in the 20th Group Army (GA) as the deputy army commander and later as the army commander. From 1990 to 1993, he was the commander of the 54th GA. From 1993 to 1995, he was the chief of staff of the Beijing MR. From 1995 to 1997, he was the deputy commander of the Beijing MR. In 1997, he was promoted to the commander position in the Shenyang MR.

In 1999, the tension between the China mainland and Taiwan aggravated by the pro-independence pronouncements of the then Taiwanese president Lee Tung-Hui . Liang, who was one of the few senior PLA officers with experience of war, was brought from the Shenyang MR to the Nanjing MR to replace Gen. Chen Bingde as the MR Commander. In June 2000, Liang was promoted to Genreal. He served in the Nanjing MR until 2002, when he was appointed the Chief of the General Staff, Party secretary of the GSD, and the member of the CMC.

In 2008, Liang succeeded Gen Cao Gangchuan as the Defence Minister and State Councillor. However, unlike his predecessors, Liang was not appointed the Vice Chairman of the CMC, but remained only a member of the commission. Despite this, as the No.4 figure in the CMC, Liang is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the PLA’s daily operations, training, command and control, and foreign affairs. This effectively makes him a de facto vice chairman. Additionally, as a senior member of the Government cabinet, Liang plays a key role in the shape of PRC’s policies on national security.

Last update: 24 August 2008