Cao Shuangming (; August 1929 – 23 July 2019) was a fighter pilot and general of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). He fought in the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...

, the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, and the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis, and served as commander of the PLAAF from 1992 to 1994.

Early life and Civil War

Cao was born in August 1929 in Linzhou, Henan, Republic of China. He enlisted in the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, ...

in 1946 and joined the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...

in the same year. During the

, he fought in the Huaihai campaign, the Yangtze River Crossing Campaign, and other battles.

Korean War

After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Cao was selected to join the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) and received pilot training at the PLAAF Fourth Flight Academy (now

Shijiazhuang Shijiazhuang (; ; Mandarin: ), formerly known as Shimen and romanized as Shihkiachwang, is the capital and most populous city of China’s North China's Hebei Province. Administratively a prefecture-level city, it is about southwest of Beijin ...

Flight Academy). An excellent student, he quickly became a master pilot of the Soviet-made MiG-15 fighter jet. Upon graduation, Cao was appointed a squadron leader in the 16th Air Force Division. In 1953, he was dispatched with his division to North Korea to fight in the

. After returning to China, Cao was promoted to deputy group commander, group commander, and deputy regiment commander. He attained the rank of

senior captain Senior captain is a rank which is used in some countries' armed forces, navies, merchant marines, civil aviation and in the airline industry. Army In some armies of the world, the senior captain is a rank between a regular captain and a majo ...

in 1956.

Second Taiwan Strait Crisis

During the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis, Cao served as deputy commander of the 48th Regiment of the 16th Division, based at Jinjiang Air Base. On 3 October 1958, he led a group of four fighter jets, with himself piloting a MiG-17, to intercept a group of 24 Taiwanese US-made

C-46 The Curtiss C-46 Commando is a twin-engine transport aircraft derived from the Curtiss CW-20 pressurised high-altitude airliner design. Early press reports used the name "Condor III" but the Commando name was in use by early 1942 in company pub ...

transporters that were supplying the island of Kinmen. Cao shot down one of the transporters, while two pilots under his command shot down another. The ROC Air Force was forced to cease daytime airdrop operations after this loss. For his performance in the battle, Cao received the First Class Merit award. He was promoted to the rank of major in 1960.

Air Force commander

In the 1980s, Cao concurrently served as commander of the

Shenyang Military Region The Shenyang Military Region was one of seven military regions for the Chinese People's Liberation Army. It has command and control of military and armed police forces in the three northeast provinces of Jilin, Heilongjiang, and Liaoning, which ...

Air Force and deputy commander of the Shenyang MR. When the PLA restored its military ranks in 1988, he was awarded the rank of

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

. In November 1992, Cao succeeded

Wang Hai Wang Hai (; 19 January 1926 – 2 August 2020) was a Chinese fighter pilot and general. A flying ace of the Korean War, he served as commander of the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) from 1985 to 1992. He was awarded the rank of gener ...

as the commander of the PLAAF, and was promoted to full general in 1993. However, the Air Force suffered an excess number of accidents under his command, and he was dismissed after only two years and replaced by

Yu Zhenwu Yu Zhenwu (; born July 1931) is a retired pilot and general of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). As one of China's first test pilots, he conducted the 1958 maiden flight of the Shenyang JJ-1, China's first indigenously deve ...

in November 1994. Cao was a member of the

14th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party The 14th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party was in session from 1992 to 1997. It held seven plenary sessions. It was preceded by the 13th Central Committee. It was elected by the 14th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party ...

. He was a delegate to the 6th, 7th, and 9th

National People's Congress The National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (NPC; ), or simply the National People's Congress, is constitutionally the supreme state authority and the national legislature of the People's Republic of China. With 2, ...

es. Cao died on 23 July 2019 in Beijing, at the age of 89.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cao, Shuangming 1929 births 2019 deaths Commanders of the People's Liberation Army Air Force People's Liberation Army generals from Henan Chinese Korean War pilots Members of the 14th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Delegates to the 6th National People's Congress Delegates to the 7th National People's Congress Delegates to the 9th National People's Congress People from Linzhou, Henan