1. Four Chinese military officers have resigned from the National People’s Congress (NPC), marking the first military deputies to step down since 2023, and bringing the total number of deputies removed or resigned from the legislature over that period to 50 [para. 1][para. 2]. The departures were confirmed in an official announcement as the Standing Committee of the 14th NPC concluded its 25th session in Beijing on Nov. 6 [para. 2]. The four officers—Zhang Gong, Guo Jianjun, Wu Yuhong and Meng Qingbin—hold the rank of major general or its naval equivalent, rear admiral [para. 3]. Before these resignations, 46 military deputies had been removed from the legislature since 2023 [para. 3].
2. The 50 total departures involve deputies from both the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the People’s Armed Police [para. 4]. By rank or naval equivalent, they comprise 22 generals, 18 lieutenant generals, and 10 major generals [para. 4]. According to the NPC Standing Committee’s Announcement No. 20, published by the official Xinhua News Agency, the election committee of the Central Military Commission’s National Defense Mobilization Department accepted the resignations of Zhang and Guo; the navy’s election committee accepted Wu’s resignation; and the People’s Armed Police election committee accepted Meng’s [para. 5]. Their qualifications as NPC deputies were terminated under the relevant regulations [para. 6].
3. Zhang Gong previously served as commander of the Guangdong provincial military command and a member of the provincial Communist Party standing committee [para. 7]. He spent much of his career in the navy, serving as chief of staff of the North Sea Fleet’s naval aviation force and deputy chief of staff of the East Sea Fleet [para. 11]. Promoted to rear admiral in June 2019, he became commander of the Jiangxi provincial military command in 2022 [para. 11]. He first appeared publicly as commander of Guangdong in July 2023 and joined the provincial party standing committee that September [para. 12]. In March 2024, Zhang was among 15 deputies who offered proposals on major defense and military development issues during a plenary meeting of the PLA and People’s Armed Police delegation [para. 13]. In March 2025, he called for Guangdong to harness its electronics, AI and new-energy industry clusters to strengthen military capabilities [para. 14]. He advocated an integrated chain linking technology R&D, application of research results and militia use, and proposed fast-track military qualification certification for high-tech companies in the Greater Bay Area [para. 15].
4. Guo Jianjun, born in December 1965 from Lushan county, Henan province, holds a master’s degree in philosophy [para. 17]. His previous positions included head of the combat service support division of the Gansu provincial military command; director of the political department of the Qinghai provincial military command; and deputy political commissar and discipline inspection commission secretary of the Qinghai command [para. 18]. He also served as deputy director of the social and legal affairs committee of Qinghai’s provincial political advisory body and as political commissar of the PLA Rocket Force University of Engineering [para. 19]. Promoted to major general in July 2015, he became political commissar of the Ningxia military command by April 2021 and was elected to the autonomous region’s party standing committee during its leadership transition in June 2022 [para. 20][para. 21]. In January 2026, the Ningxia legislature’s standing committee announced that Guo had been transferred out of the region, automatically ending his membership of the region’s 13th people’s congress [para. 22].
5. Meng Qingbin previously served as director of the political department of a People’s Armed Police unit and as deputy political commissar of the force’s Inner Mongolia contingent [para. 24]. He became political commissar of its Guizhou contingent by April 2020, held the same post in its Sichuan contingent by January 2022, and by August 2024 was serving as political commissar of the Gansu provincial military command [para. 25]. Wu Yuhong, a native of Hunan province, was promoted to rear admiral in December 2018 [para. 26]. He led the shore-to-ship missile formation during the military parade marking the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China in October 2019 [para. 26]. Guo held corresponding posts as political commissar of the Ningxia military command and a member of the autonomous region’s party standing committee [para. 8].
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