Sun Ganqing (; 19 January 1919 – 5 January 2019) was a major general of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. He served as

chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

of the Guangzhou Military Region and the

Kunming Military Region The Kunming Military Region was a military region of the People's Liberation Army, established in December 1954 or 1955 and disestablished during the 1980s. It was incorporated within the Chengdu Military Region. In the 1954 reorganization that es ...

, and commander of the Hainan Military District. He was a veteran of the Second Sino-Japanese War, Chinese Civil War, and Sino-Vietnamese War.

Biography

Sun was born in Linzi,

Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...

, on 19 January 1919. He enlisted in the

Eighth Route Army The Eighth Route Army (), officially known as the 18th Group Army of the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China, was a group army under the command of the Chinese Communist Party, nominally within the structure of the Chinese ...

at the beginning of 1938. He joined the Communist Party of China at the same year. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, he fought with the Imperial Japanese Army in north China's Shandong province. After war, he was assigned to northeast China, where he successively served as regimental commander of the Northeast Field Corps and division

of the Fourth Field Army. During the Chinese Civil War, he participated in the Battle of Linjiang, Liaoshen Campaign, Pingjin Campaign, and Battle of Hainan Island. After the founding of the Communist State in 1958, he became deputy commander of the Artillery Division of Guangzhou Military Region. He attained the rank of major general (

shao jiang (; ja, 将, Shō; ) is the rank held by general officers in some East Asian militaries. The ranks are used in both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China on Taiwan. The People's Liberation Army and the People's Armed Police use ...

) in 1961. In July 1963 he was appointed commander of the Hainan Military District. In 1977 he was appointed chief of staff of the

. He retired in September 1984. Sun died of illness in Nanjing, Jiangsu, on 5 January 2019, two weeks before his 100th birthday.

Awards

* Second Class Medal,

Order of Independence and Freedom Order of Independence and Freedom () was a military award from the People's Republic of China. It was created in 1955, to give recognition to men who distinguished themselves "conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity" in combat with an enemy o ...

* Second Class Medal,

Order of Liberation The Order of Liberation (french: Ordre de la Libération) is a French Order which was awarded to heroes of the Liberation of France during World War II. It is a very high honour, second only after the ''Légion d’Honneur'' (Legion of Honour ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sun, Ganqing 1919 births 2019 deaths People from Zibo People's Liberation Army generals from Shandong Chinese Communist Party politicians from Shandong