Xing Shizhong (; September 1938 – 11 March 2019) was a general of the Chinese

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the military of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). It consists of four Military branch, services—People's Liberation Army Ground Force, Ground Force, People's ...

. He served as chief of staff and deputy commander of the Lanzhou Military Region and president of the

PLA National Defence 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 ...

(1995–2002). He was a member of the

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 ...

Biography

Xing was born in September 1938 in Licheng,

Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. He enlisted in the

(PLA) in 1953 and graduated from the PLA Nanjing Engineering Institute in 1956. He joined the

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 ...

the following year. He was a classmate of Li Xinliang, who later served as commander of the

Beijing Military Region The Beijing Military Region was one of seven military regions for the Chinese People's Liberation Army. From the mid-1980s to 2017, it had administration of all military affairs within Beijing city, Tianjin city, Hebei province, Shanxi province, ...

. Xing had a military career spanning 50 years. He served as an engineering officer and a regimental commander in the

Guangzhou Military Region The Guangzhou Military Region was from 1955 to 2016 one of the People's Liberation Army PLA Military Regions, located in the south of the People's Republic of China. In May 1949, the Central China (Hua Zhong) Military Region (MR) was formed. In M ...

. He was considered a protege of General Zhang Wannian, and was also connected to General Fu Quanyou. He fought in the 1979

Sino-Vietnamese War The Sino-Vietnamese War (also known by other names) was a brief conflict that occurred in early 1979 between China and Vietnam. China launched an offensive ostensibly in response to Vietnam's invasion and occupation of Cambodia in 1978, whi ...

, and was promoted to division commander for his performance in the war. He was later promoted to corps commander. He served as

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

of the Lanzhou Military Region from 1985 to 1988, and was awarded the rank of major general in 1988. After 1988 he served as deputy commander of the Lanzhou MR, and attained the rank of

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

in 1993. From 1995 to 2002 he served as president of the

, an important position given the university's role in training top PLA officers. He was promoted to full general in March 1998. Xing was elected to the

, serving from 1997 to 2002. He was also a delegate to the 7th, 8th, and 10th

National People's Congress The National People's Congress (NPC) is the highest organ of state power of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The NPC is the only branch of government in China, and per the principle of unified power, all state organs from the Sta ...

es. Xing died in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

on 11 March 2019, at the age of 80.

View on the China threat theory

In 1996, Xing published an article in the Communist Party journal ''

Qiushi ''Qiushi'' () is the official theoretical journal and news magazine of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), published bi-monthly by the Central Party School and the Central Committee. The journal is headquartered in Beijing. ''Qiushi'' is pub ...

'', entitled "Put an end to the China threat theory". He argued that the idea of a rising power threatening the existing order maintained by an established power is rooted in

Western imperialism Imperialism is the maintaining and extending of power over foreign nations, particularly through expansionism, employing both hard power (military and economic power) and soft power ( diplomatic power and cultural imperialism). Imperialism foc ...

. This logic is imposed on China by the West, whose imperialism is the real cause of instability in the world. He further argued that since the United States maintains a large network of military bases far from its homeland and tries to impose its own values on other nations, it has been and will continue to be a cause of conflicts in the world.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Xing, Shizhong 1938 births 2019 deaths People from Jinan People's Liberation Army generals from Shandong Chiefs of staff of the Lanzhou Military Region Members of the 15th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Delegates to the 7th National People's Congress Delegates to the 8th National People's Congress Delegates to the 10th National People's Congress