Xi Jinping promoted seven military and armed police officers to the rank of general on Jan. 21. An expert believes that Xi is focused on building his loyalists, rather than high caliber military personnel. The seven newly promoted officers cover the Northern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the Central Theater Command of the PLA, the PLA Army, the PLA Navy, the PLA Rocket Force, and the People’s Armed Police Force. Since Xi took power, the Chinese military has gone through a large-scale anti-corruption campaign—removing several high ranking officers, including two former vice chairs of the central military commission (CMC)—and military reform. Consequently, the Chinese military is filled with many young generals. Those newly promoted generals were all born in the 1960s. Since 2012, Xi has promoted 67 military officers to the rank of general. The PLA qualifications for promotion to the rank of general include serving at …