Ding Wenchang (; October 1933 – 13 October 2022) was a general in the

People's Liberation Army Air Force The People's Liberation Army Air Force, also referred to as the Chinese Air Force () or the People's Air Force (), is the primary aerial warfare service of the People's Liberation Army. The PLAAF controls most of the PLA's air assets, includi ...

of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. Born in

Suzhou Suzhou is a major prefecture-level city in southern Jiangsu province, China. As part of the Yangtze Delta megalopolis, it is a major economic center and focal point of trade and commerce. Founded in 514 BC, Suzhou rapidly grew in size by the ...

Anhui Province Anhui is an inland province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiangxi to the south, Hub ...

, he joined the army in July 1951 and joined

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

in May 1956. He graduated from PLA 16th infantry school and also studied in 5th preparatory group of Air Force and the 10th aeronautics school of PLA. In January 1954, he became a mechanic in a division of Air Force, supervisor assistant in organization section of the political department of the division and the vice political commissar of airplane group. He was appointed the secretary of secretariat of the political department of Air Force army corps in March 1966. In October 1970, he was elevated to vice section chief and later section chief of cadres section in the political department of Air Force army corps, and vice director of cadre section of the political department of Air Force in PLA

Shenyang Military Region The Shenyang Military Region was one of seven military regions for the Chinese People's Liberation Army. It has command and control of military and armed police forces in the three northeast provinces of Jilin, Heilongjiang, and Liaoning, whic ...

. In May 1980, he became vice political commissar of the air-arm division of Air Force. In July 1981, he was promoted to director of the cadre section of the political department of Air Force in Shenyang Military Region. He became a vice political commissar of Air Force army corps in May 1983. From September 1983 to January 1984, he studied at

Central Party School of the Chinese Communist Party The Central Party School is a higher education institution that trains Chinese Communist Party (CCP) cadres. It is located in Haidian, Beijing, close to Summer Palace and Old Summer Palace. The current president is Chen Xi, a former member ...

. In November 1985, he became vice director of the political department of Air Force. He was made the director of political department and standing committee member of CCP committee in the Air Force. From March to May 1989, he was trained as a senior official at

PLA National Defense University The National Defense University is a national public collegiate military university headquartered in Haidian, Beijing, China, with constituent and affiliated military academies nationwide. Established in 1985 by a military order of Deng X ...

. From November 1992 to January 1999, he served as political commissar and Party chief of PLA Air Force. Ding was a delegate to

7th National People's Congress The 7th National People's Congress (NPC) was in session from 1988 to 1993. It held five sessions in this period. Seat distribution The first session Elected state leaders In the 1st Session in 1988, the Congress elected the state leaders: ...

, and was a member of 14th and

15th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party The 15th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party was in session from 1997 to 2002. The 14th Central Committee preceded it. It was followed by the 16th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. This was the first Central Committee ...

. He attained the rank of major general of the PLAAF in September 1988, lieutenant general in July 1990, and general in January 1996. Ding died on 13 October 2022, at the age of 89.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ding, Wenchang 1933 births 2022 deaths People's Liberation Army generals from Anhui People from Suzhou, Anhui People's Liberation Army Air Force generals Delegates to the 7th National People's Congress Members of the 14th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Members of the 15th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party