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Cai Yingting
Cai Yingting
蔡英挺
	Cai Yingting at the Pentagon in 2012
President of the PLA Academy of Military Science
	In office; February 2016 – January 2017
Preceded by	Gao Jin
Succeeded by	Zheng He
Commander of Nanjing Military Region
	In office; October 2012 – February 2016
Preceded by	Zhao Keshi
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Personal details
Born	April 1954 (age 70); Jinjiang, Fujian, China
Political party	Chinese Communist Party
Military service
Allegiance	China
Branch/service	People's Liberation Army
Years of service	1970−2017
Rank	General
Commands	Nanjing Military Region

Cai Yingting (Chinese: 蔡英挺; pinyin: Cài Yīngtǐng; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Chhòa Eng-théng; born April 1954) is a former general of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA). He served as commander of the Nanjing Military Region and president of the PLA Academy of Military Science, but was demoted in 2017.

Career

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.^[1] 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.^[1]

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.^[1]

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.^[2] Later that year, Cai was appointed commander of the Nanjing Military Region. He attained the rank of general (shang jiang) in July 2013^[3]^[4] and was a full member of the 18th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.^[3]^[4]

Cai was once seen as a rising star and one of the most trusted allies in the military of Chairman Xi Jinping. 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 Gen. Song Puxuan, Gen. Wang Jiaocheng, and Lt. Gen. Qin Weijiang, were promoted to higher positions.^[5]

Retirement

In January 2017, Cai retired from his post as president of the PLA Academy of Military Science and was not known to have taken on any other post. Cai's departure was unusual, as he had not yet reached the PLA's mandatory retirement age for his rank. In May 2018, the South China Morning Post reported that Cai had been demoted by eight grades, possibly because he had failed to report his daughter's marriage to a Frenchman, and because of his ties to disgraced senior commanders.^[6]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "蔡英挺执掌军校原军区司令员去向俱全[图]". Duowei. February 3, 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-02-06. Retrieved 2016-02-04.
^ "Analysis: Lieutenant General Cai Yingting's United States visit signals promotion". August 23, 2012.
^ ^a ^b 蔡英挺 (in Chinese). Phoenix New Media. 28 August 2013. Archived from the original on 23 April 2015. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
^ ^a ^b "Cai Yingting". China Vitae. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
^ Cheng Li (August 2015). "Promoting "Young Guards": The Recent High Turnover in the PLA Leadership (Part I: Purges and Reshuffles)" (PDF). China Leadership Monitor (48): 10–11.
^ Chan, Minnie (2018-05-16). "Chinese military's former rising star falls back to earth". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2018-06-16.

Military offices
Preceded by Zhao Keshi	Commander of the 31st Group Army 2004–2007	Succeeded by Wang Ning
	chief of staff of the Nanjing Military Region 2007–2011	Succeeded by Yang Hui [zh]
	Commander of Nanjing Military Region 2012–2016	Succeeded by Position revoked
Preceded by Gao Jin	President of the PLA Academy of Military Sciences 2016–2017	Succeeded by Zheng He