Ｓｏｎ ｏｆ Ｌｉｕ Ｓｈａｏｑｉ Ｗａｓ Ｐｒｏｍｏｔｅｄ ｔｏ Ｇｅｎｅｒａｌ

Ｌｉｕ　Ｙｕａｎ

According to the report from Xinhua News Agency, the Central Military Commission (CMC) of China held a ceremony of promoting three officers to general in Beijing on July 20. The Chairman of CMC Hu Jintao issued the orders of promotion to the three officers, who are Ma Xiaotian, Deputy Head of the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) General Staff Department, Liu Yuan, Political Commissar of Academy of Military Sciences and Zhang Haiyang, Political Commissar of the PLA Chengdu Military Region.

These three officers fathers were the former Chinese political or military leaders, Ma Xiaotians father Ma Zairao was a senior colonel in PLA when the PRC was initially established and the former Chief Educator of PLA Institute of Political Science. Liu Yuan was the son the former Chinese Vice President Liu Shaoqi. Zhang Haiyangs father General Zhang Zhen, was the former Vice Chairman of the CMC.

Among these three people, Liu Yuan is the most eye-catching one. He was born in Beijing in 1951 and spent his childhood in Zhongnanhai, the central headquarters for the CPC and Chinese government. In the period of “Cultural Revolution”, his parents were smacked from their posts and suffered persecution. Liu Yuan had to seek refuge everywhere and at last went to the countryside of Shanxi.

In 1978, Liu entered Beijing Normal University to study history. After graduation he began his political career and in 1988 he was promoted to the Vice Governor of Henan province at the age of 37, becoming the youngest vice governor at that time.

In 1992 Liu Yuan joined in the army. At first he joined in the Peoples Armed Police Force (CAPF) and in 1998 he was promoted to be the Deputy Commissar of the CAPF. Then his rank was promoted for several times. In 2005, the PLA reduced 200 thousand soldiers and officers. Liu Yuan took part in the job and had good performance, impressing the top leaders a lot.