Guo Boxiong

Guo Boxiong

General Guo Boxiong
Born July 1942
Liquan, Shaanxi, China
Allegiance  People's Republic of China
Service/branch People's Liberation Army
Rank General
Commands held 55th Division, 19th Army, 47th Army Group
Beijing Military Region, Lanzhou Military Region
Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission (2002-2012)
This is a Chinese name; the family name is Guo.
Guo Boxiong
Simplified Chinese 郭伯雄

Guo Boxiong (born July 1942)[1] is a retired General of the People's Liberation Army of China. He served as the Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission, China's top military council, between 2002 and 2012.[2] During the same period he also held a seat in the Politburo of the Communist Party of China,[3] China's top decision-making body.

Biography

Guo was born in Liquan County, Shaanxi province. In August 1958, Guo, aged 16 and just finished middle school, began working at a military factory in Xingping, Shaanxi province. Guo joined the People's Liberation Army in 1961. Two years later, he joined the Communist Party of China. Guo was trained at China's National Defense University and the Xi'an Army Academy in People's Liberation Army Military Academy where he graduated.[4]

Guo earned a series of promotions in the 1970s. In the 55th Division of the 19th Army, Guo rose from a soldier to chief of staff of the 55th Division by 1982.[3] By 1983 Guo was chief of staff of the 19th Army until 1985, when he became deputy chief of staff of the Lanzhou Military Region after a major re-organization of the PLA that took place under Deng Xiaoping. Afterwards Guo became commander of the 47th Group Army for three years. In 1993 Guo became deputy commander of the Beijing Military Region, the heart of China's defense establishment, and in 1997 commander of the Lanzhou Military Region. In September 1999, Guo became a member of the Central Military Commission, deputy chief of staff, and was also promoted to the rank of General (the highest rank in the army).

In 2002, at the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Guo became the Vice-Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), serving alongside Hu Jintao, who became nominal General Secretary of the Communist Party at the same Congress. The Vice-Chairmanship of the CMC is the highest executive position given to military officers. Guo served for ten years. He retired at the 18th National Congress in November 2012.

Since Guo's retirement, Xi Jinping, who is the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China and is the supreme commander of the military, began a far-reaching anti-corruption campaign. Guo was subject of intense rumours surrounding possible involvement with corruption during his time in office, particularly in overseas Chinese media. His former colleague of the same rank, retired General Xu Caihou, was court-martialed and expelled from the Communist Party in the summer of 2014. Guo was often euphemistically referred to in Chinese-language media as the "Northwest Wolf" (西北狼), an oblique reference to Xi Jinping's slogan to "crack down on 'tigers' and 'flies'." In February 2015, Guo's son, Guo Zhenggang, a rear admiral in the PLA Navy, was detained for investigation by military authorities.[5] Reuters reported in March 2015 that Guo was already "undergoing investigation."[6]

Personal life

Guo has a brother, Guo Boquan (郭伯权) born in 1961, who heads up the Department of Civil Affairs of Shaanxi province and a former official in the city of Weinan. Boquan was detained by the authorities for investigation in March 2015.[7] Guo has a son, Guo Zhenggang, who is a rear admiral in the People's Liberation Army Navy of China who held a leading military post in Zhejiang province; Zhenggang was also detained for investigation in February 2015.[8]

References

  1. ↑
  2. ↑ "New CPC top leadership line-up unveiled", Bjinvest.gov.cn.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Andrew Scobell and Larry Wortzel. Civil-Military Change in China: Elites, Institutes, and Ideas After the 16th Party Congress. Darby PA: DIANE Publishing, 2004. ISBN 1-4289-1026-3
  4. ↑ "Guo Boxiong -- Politburo member of CPC Central Committee", CCTV, October 23, 2007.
  5. ↑ "Chinese state media suggests retired general Guo Boxiong may be next to fall, after son comes under graft probe". South China Morning Post. March 3, 2015.
  6. ↑ "Exclusive: China investigates second top officer for graft - sources". Reuters. March 3, 2015.
  7. ↑ "郭伯雄胞弟郭伯权被调查 恐凶多吉少[图]". Duowei News. March 3, 2015.
  8. ↑ "軍委前副主席郭伯雄之子 涉貪助查" (in Chinese). Ming Pao. 2014-07-10.

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