Western Theater Command#Org

{{Short description|Military command region of China}}

{{Expand Chinese|topic=mil|date=January 2021}}

{{Use American English|date=January 2019}}{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}}{{more footnotes needed|date=January 2017}}

{{Infobox Military Unit

| unit_name = Western Theater Command

| native_name = 西部战区

| image = Map of Western Theatre of PLA.svg

| image_size = 300px

| start_date = {{start date and age|df=y|2016|2|1}}

| country = {{PRC}}

| allegiance = {{CCP flag}}

| type = Theater Command

| role = Command and control

| size =

| command_structure = {{Flagicon image | People's Liberation Army Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg |size = 23px }} People's Liberation Army

| garrison = Chengdu, Sichuan

| garrison_label = Headquarters

| website = {{URL|http://eng.chinamil.com.cn/armed-forces/western-theatre-command.htm|Official website (in English)}}

| commander1 = General Wang Haijiang

| commander1_label = Commander

| commander2 = General Li Fengbiao

| commander2_label = Political Commisar

| commander3 = General Zhang Jian

| commander3_label = Chief of Staff

| identification_symbol = 100px

| identification_symbol_label = Sleeve insignia

}}

{{PRC military sidebar}}

The Western Theater Command ({{Zh|s=西部战区|p=Xībù zhànqū}}) is one of the five theater commands of the People's Liberation Army, founded on 1 February 2016.

Its jurisdiction includes Sichuan, Tibet, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, Xinjiang, Shaanxi, Yunnan, Chongqing.{{cite book|editor=Sumit Ganguly|editor2=Andrew Scobell|editor3=Joseph Chinyong Liow|title=The Routledge Handbook of Asian Security Studies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8_86DwAAQBAJ&q=%22Western+Theater+Command%22+Gansu&pg=PT83|publisher=Routledge|date=2017|isbn=978-1315455631|access-date=July 30, 2022|archive-date=July 30, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730202651/https://books.google.com/books?id=8_86DwAAQBAJ&q=%22Western+Theater+Command%22+Gansu&pg=PT83|url-status=live}} Guizhou is also sometimes listed as part of the command. Its current commander since August 2021 is General Wang Haijiang.{{cite news |title=Chinese President Xi appoints new General for PLA's Western Theatre Command amidst Ladakh standoff |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/chinese-president-xi-appoints-new-general-for-plas-western-theatre-command-amidst-ladakh-standoff/articleshow/79817350.cms |access-date=20 December 2020 |work=economictimes |archive-date=January 31, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220131094445/https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/chinese-president-xi-appoints-new-general-for-plas-western-theatre-command-amidst-ladakh-standoff/articleshow/79817350.cms |url-status=live }} Its current political commissar is General Li Fengbiao.

In May 2016, the PRC raised the rank and status of its western Tibet Military Command to widen its scope for missions and combat preparedness, in a move analysts in Beijing said was aimed in part at fortifying the border with India.{{Cite web |url = http://tibet.net/2016/05/eye-on-india-china-raises-tibet-military-command-rank/ |title = Eye on India, China raises Tibet military command rank {{!}} Central Tibetan Administration |website = tibet.net |access-date = 2016-10-01 |archive-date = November 7, 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161107071553/http://tibet.net/2016/05/eye-on-india-china-raises-tibet-military-command-rank/ |url-status = live }} The Xinjiang Military Command may also be elevated in the future, the report said. Both commands are under the newly created Western Theater Command, the largest of five newly reorganised military regions of the PLA. The Chinese Communist Party-run tabloid Global Times reported the change would allow the command “to shoulder more combat assignments”.