Chi Haotian

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Chi.

Chi Haotian 迟浩田
Minister of National Defence
In office March 1993 – 17 March 2003
Premier	Li Peng Zhu Rongji
Preceded by	Qin Jiwei
Succeeded by	Cao Gangchuan
Personal details
Born	July 1929 Zhaoyuan, Shandong Province, China
Political party	Communist Party of China
Military service
Allegiance	People's Republic of China
Service/branch	People's Liberation Army
Years of service	1946–present
Rank	General

General Chi Haotian (simplified Chinese: 迟浩田; traditional Chinese: 遲浩田; pinyin: Chí Hàotián; born July 1929) is a general of the People's Republic of China.

Biography

Chi was born July, 1929 in Zhaoyuan, Shandong Province, China. In October, 1946 he joined the CPC (Communist Party of China). He was recruited to the army in July 1945, and graduated from the synthesis department of Military Academy of PLA.

In 1973, he became the vice political commissar of Beijing Military Region, and vice editor in chief of a prominent newspaper "People's Daily". He later became vice director of the general staff department of PLA and the director of political department under it, the political commissar of Jinan Military Region, and the head of the general staff department of PLA as well as the secretary of CPC's committee there. He was elected as a member of central military commission in 1988.

Chi played an important role in organizing the martial law troops that surrounded the capital, Beijing, in May 1989. As chief of staff he instructed the commanding officers of the Beijing, Shenyang, and Jinan Military Districts to "finalize the name list of every group army division scheduled to advance into Beijing and their exact times of departure and arrival, as well as details regarding primary duties", according to the "Daily report" (Meiri yibao) from the Central Military Commission Office, dated May 19, 1989. This military build up resulted in the so called Beijing massacre, which took place on the 4th of June that year.

In 1993 Chi became a state council member and the Minister of National Defense until 2003. He was also the director of the Law of National Defense Draft Commission. He was elected to the vice chairman of central military commission of CPC in September 1995, and CMC of the state in December that year.

He was elected as a member of central committee of CPC's 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th National Congresses, and a Politburo member at 15th Congress.

He was awarded First-class honor in 1952, and Third-Class Liberation medal in 1985. He was made general in 1988.

His habits include reading books, especially those of Lu Xun's and military ones. He's good at swimming, horse-riding and wrestling. He used to be the honorary Chairman of Chinese Wrestling Association.

His wife is Jiang Qinping (姜青萍). She is a native of Changzhou, Jiangsu province, and was a doctor in the Navy's general hospital of PLA. The couple has a son and a daughter.

References

External links

• Chinatoday biography (English)
• Chi Haotian at China Vitae (English)

Military offices
Preceded by Yang Dezhi	Head of PLA General Staff Department 1987–1992	Succeeded by Zhang Wannian
Political offices
Preceded by Qin Jiwei	Minister of National Defense 1993–2003	Succeeded by Cao Gangchuan

Persondata
Name	Chi, Haotian
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1929
Place of birth	Zhaoyuan, Shandong Province, China
Date of death
Place of death