Name Cai Yingting | Years of service 1970 − present Rank General | |
Similar People Zhang Wannian, Zhao Keshi, Zhang Youxia | ||
Political party Communist Party of China | ||
Cai Yingting (Chinese: 蔡英挺; born April 1954) is a general of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA). He previously served as as President of the PLA Academy of Military Science and Commander of the Nanjing Military Region.
Biography
Cai Yingting was born in April 1954 in Jinjiang, Fujian Province. He joined the PLA in 1970. Cai served for many years in Fujian province, and was known to have deep knowledge of the military situation in Taiwan. In 1996, when then Central Military Commission vice chairman Zhang Wannian was dispatched to the Nanjing Military Region to oversee military maneuvers in the Taiwan Strait, Cai became his secretary. He was also named deputy director of the General Office of the Central Military Commission.
In 2002, Cai returned to the Nanjing MR to serve as deputy chief of staff. In 2011 he was recalled to Beijing to serve as Deputy Chief of the General Staff, the youngest officer of Military Region-level at the time.
Cai served as Deputy Chief of the General Staff from 2011 until 2012. In 2012, Cai made a visit to the United States, including a stop at the U.S. military base at Fort Hood, Texas, and at Pearl Harbor. The visit led to speculation that he was due for further promotion, perhaps to the position of executive deputy chief of general staff. Later that year, Cai was appointed Commander of the Nanjing Military Region. He attained the rank of general (shang jiang) in July 2013. He is a full member of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.
Some analysts consider Cai one of the most trusted allies in the military of Xi Jinping, Chairman of the Central Military Commission. He had served as Commander of the Xiamen-based 31st Group Army of the Nanjing Military Region, considered Xi's "royal army". Several of his former deputies in the Nanjing MR, including General Song Puxuan, General Wang Jiaocheng, and Lt. General Qin Weijiang, have been promoted to higher positions.
In January 2017, Cai left his post as president of the PLA Academy of Military Science and was not known to have taken on any other posts. Cai's departure was unusual, as he had not yet reached retirement age. Cai has not made any public appearances since then.