China’s military names new commander for troubled Xinjiang region

China has appointed a new military commander to oversee its troubled far western Xinjiang region, where security is tight amid a crackdown that Beijing says is needed to prevent terrorism.

Lieutenant General Wang Haijiang, 57, will also be responsible for part of China’s disputed border with India as commander of the Xinjiang military region, at a time of heightened tensions between the two neighbours.

The move was confirmed in a statement on the military region’s official WeChat social media account, which named Wang as the commander and said he had paid tribute to former People’s Liberation Army senior colonels at a retirement ceremony on Monday.

Wang is the former commander of the Tibet military region and was seen attending an event in Xinjiang in April, but his role was not clear at the time. His replacement in Tibet, Lieutenant General Wang Kai, was announced the same month.

Wang Haijiang will work with Lieutenant General Yang Cheng, who will be his second-in-command as political commissar of the Xinjiang military region.

The region sits under the PLA’s Western Theatre Command – responsible for the vast border region with Central Asian countries including Afghanistan, where China is concerned about security and the threat of terrorism, as well as the western section of its border with India.