Beijing appointed Rear Admiral Lai Ruxin as the political commissar of the Hong Kong garrison of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) on March 28. Lai is the garrison’s ninth Chinese Communist Party political commissar and the first commissar with a Navy background. Before taking office, Lai was deputy director of the Political Work Department of the Northern Theater of the Chinese military. Lai has earlier served in various roles in the PLA Navy, including being director of the cadre department of the Political Department of the South China Sea Fleet and the political commissar of the Guangzhou Marine Police District. In June 2018, Lai served as the political commissar of the Naval Academy of China. In December of that year, he was promoted to the rank of rear admiral, and then transferred to the deputy director of the Political Work Department of the Northern Theater Command. Lai’s appointment follows Beijing …