By Li Deyan
Multiple reports swirling across China claim that General Chang Dingqiu, commander of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) Air Force and the youngest active full general in the PLA, has died suddenly of a “heart attack” while undergoing 留置 (liuzhi) detention and questioning by the CCP’s military disciplinary authorities. Liuzhi is a form of incommunicado detention used by China’s anti-corruption authorities, mainly the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) and the National Supervisory Commission.
Chang’s reported death has raised three major suspicions — while his rapid rise through the ranks — largely attributed to promotion by CCP leader and President Xi Jinping, has further fueled speculation that anti-Xi forces within the top leadership are turning up the pressure on Xi.
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An unlikely demise
On Dec. 13, Liu Junning, a visiting scholar at Harvard University’s Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, posted on X that Chang Dingqiu, the youngest Air Force commander in the CCP military, “died suddenly of a heart attack during liuzhi detention and questioning.” Liu added that the information had not been officially confirmed and should be used as reference only.
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Liu Junning previously served as a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. U.S.-based political commentator Tang Jingyuan noted on his self-media program that Liu is known as a relatively cautious academic with sources inside China’s social-science circles, making the report “comparatively credible.”
News of Chang’s alleged death quickly shocked Chinese-language media circles, largely because of his close ties to Xi Jinping. Public records show that Chang Dingqiu was born in 1967 in Hengyang, Hunan Province. In July 2012, he was promoted to major general in the Air Force. During the Sept. 3, 2015 military parade marking the 70th anniversary of victory in the War of Resistance Against Japan, Chang personally piloted a J-10A fighter jet over Tiananmen Square to receive Xi Jinping’s inspection.
At the time, Chang was the youngest major general among the 56 generals leading parade formations. In January 2016, he was promoted to deputy commander of the newly established Southern Theater Command, becoming the youngest active theater-level officer in the entire PLA.
Chang’s quick rise under Xi’s wing
In December 2017, Chang was promoted to deputy chief of the Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission (CMC). In 2021, he was appointed Air Force commander and was personally promoted to full general by Xi Jinping at the age of 54, setting a record as the youngest full general in publicly available PLA records and breaking a decade-long record for the youngest officer at the full theater-command level. These milestones underscored Xi Jinping’s apparent confidence in Chang.
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Chang became a member of the CCP Central Committee at the 20th Party Congress. In September 2022, shortly before the congress, Nikkei Asia published an article predicting that Xi might promote several hardline generals favoring military action against Taiwan into the CMC, explicitly naming Li Qiaoming, Xu Qiling, and Chang Dingqiu.
Tang Jingyuan said Chang could be regarded as the leading figure among the younger generation of Xi’s military loyalists, even ranking above former Eastern Theater Command chief Lin Xiangyang due to his Central Committee membership and position as Air Force commander. Tang added that Chang was widely viewed as a core general Xi might rely on in any move toward military action against Taiwan.
Chang’s last public appearance was on Sept. 28, 2025, when he attended the China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition as Air Force commander and delivered remarks. He had also appeared at a Defense Ministry reception on July 31 but was absent from the Fourth Plenum held on Oct. 20, 2025.
Major suspicions around Chang’s death
Liu Junning’s post mentioned both the location and cause of Chang’s death. Tang Jingyuan said the location was likely a military disciplinary facility where Chang was being held for questioning, and the cause cited was a sudden heart attack. Chang’s alleged death raised eyebrows for several reasons.
First, Chang would be the third full general reported to have died while under military disciplinary detention. The first two were former CMC vice chairman He Weidong and former executive deputy director of the CMC Political Work Department He Hongjun, both of whom were reported to have died during investigations.
However, prior to the Fourth Plenum, the Defense Ministry officially announced the expulsion of nine full generals, including He Weidong and He Hongjun, from the Party and the military. Chang Dingqiu was not included, raising the first major question.
Second, all three generals were reported to have died suddenly of illness while in detention. Third, two other highly sensitive CCP figures, former Premier Li Keqiang and former CMC vice chairman Xu Qiliang, were also reported to have died suddenly of heart attacks.
‘Sudden heart disease’ afflicting CCP officials
Tang noted that when He Weidong was first reported detained in March 2025, overseas sources said he had suffered a sudden heart attack and was rushed to PLA 301 Hospital. “Sudden heart disease and sudden myocardial infarction have now become a ‘common illness’ among senior CCP officials,” Tang said, adding that Chang’s age, only 58, and his physical condition made the claim particularly questionable.
Tang pointed out that during the 2015 parade, Chang was already at the maximum flight age for Air Force fighter pilots yet was still permitted to fly a J-10A jet, something that would only be allowed if he were in excellent health.
Heart disease, Tang emphasized, is typically a chronic condition developing over many years, making it implausible that someone with such a health profile could suddenly die of a heart attack.
Reports claimed Li Keqiang collapsed while swimming and Xu Qiliang while jogging, situations where emergency response might have been delayed. But Chang, Tang argued, was a full general, Central Committee member, and vice-state-level official undergoing disciplinary questioning—a setting where medical teams are normally on standby to prevent both suicide and medical emergencies.
“Before any key leads are uncovered, it is generally not allowed for such a person to die,” Tang said, concluding that the most likely explanation is death by non-suicide, possibly homicide.
He suggested Chang may have either succumbed to torture or been directly eliminated by military disciplinary authorities.
Anti-Xi forces turning up the heat
On Oct. 25, 2025, overseas CCP-critic Cai Xia, a retired professor from the Central Party School, revealed that the investigations into He Weidong, Miao Hua, and other senior officers may have stemmed from allegations that they conspired in Tianjin and Langfang to form a “non-institutional force,” or private army.
Tang Jingyuan said such a plan would have required coordination across multiple branches. Before the Fourth Plenum, authorities announced the downfall of nine full generals spanning the Army, Navy, Rocket Force, and Armed Police, but not the Air Force.
At the time, some believed Chang Dingqiu had narrowly escaped. Others suspected he had already fallen, given his absence from the plenum. Tang argued that adding Chang would have brought the total to 10 full generals, a symbolic shock that authorities may have wished to avoid. He also speculated that Chang likely died after the Fourth Plenum, noting that nearly two months passed before reports of his death emerged.
An online whistleblower later claimed that Chang Dingqiu, Air Force political commissar Guo Puxiao, Academy of Military Sciences president Yang Xuejun, political commissar Ling Huanxin, and newly appointed Army political commissar Chen Hui had all fallen.
Tang said reports of Chang’s trouble surfacing in late November were unlikely to be baseless.
Suspicious of a cover-up
If Chang Dingqiu has indeed died, observers say the CCP would be unable to conceal it indefinitely. U.S.-based commentator Cai Shenkun wrote on X: “Chang Dingqiu came from a pilot background and should have been in excellent physical condition… He became a full general at 54, setting a record… His rapid rise was closely tied to former Air Force commander Ding Laihang and former CMC vice chairman Xu Qiliang. With Xu Qiliang reportedly dying of a heart attack this year and Ding Laihang investigated in 2023, Chang’s loss of standing in the military was inevitable.”
Cai added, “If Chang Dingqiu truly died of a heart attack, the authorities would not be able to hide it long. The Air Force commander is a critical post and a key stepping stone into the Central Military Commission.”
Vision Times notes that it is currently unable to independently verify these claims. However, at a time when Xi Jinping faces mounting domestic and international pressure, the sudden reports surrounding Chang Dingqiu, one of Xi’s most trusted Air Force generals, are unlikely to be coincidental.
Editorial note: Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Vision Times.
