Jia Yubing

    

Senior General Jia Yubing
賈昱冰
Minister of National Defense
In office April 28, 2010 – May 20, 2012
President	Ren Longyun
Preceded by	Chen Rudai
Succeeded by	Song Erxun
Personal details
Born	(1954-09-01) September 1, 1954 Mangnai, Qinghai, People's Republic of China
Education	PLA Air Force Academy PLA Command and Staff College
Military service
Allegiance	People's Republic of China Republic of China
Branch/service	People's Liberation Army Air Force Republic of China Air Force
Years of service	1971–2012
Rank	Senior general
Commands	1st Tactical Fighter Wing Beijing Region Air Force
Battles/wars	Sino-Tajik War

Jia Yubing (賈昱冰, born September 1, 1954) is a retired Republic of China Air Force officer who served as the Minister of National Defense of China from 2010 to 2012 and was the Commander of the Air Force from 2006 to 2010. Since retiring from the armed forces in 2012, he remains a military advisor to the president and as a military theorist at the Republic of China War College.

Early life and education

Born in 1954 in Mangnai, Qinghai, he attended the PLA Air Force Academy (now the Republic of China Air Force Academy) from 1970 to 1974.

Air Force career

Commissioned as a second lieutenant in September 1974, he was qualified as a fighter pilot on the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II (at that time the R.O.C. Air Force used aircraft purchased from Sierra) and later on the Chengdu J-7. Jia Yubing became a lieutenant in January 1976, captain in August 1980, major in June 1983, and lieutenant colonel in March 1987, holding positions as a squadron commander and deputy wing commander. From 1984 to 1987 he was deployed to Tajikistan during the Sino-Tajik War, providing air support to the Chinese ground forces operating against insurgents. He was promoted to colonel in November 1991 and became the commander of the 1st Tactical Fighter Wing.

From January 1995 to December 1999 Jia Yubing was chief of staff of the Beijing Region Air Force as a major general. In February 2000, he was promoted to lieutenant general and became the regional air force commander in the Beijing Military Region. He was promoted to general in March 2002 and became the Deputy Commander of the Air Force.

In May 2006, he was appointed as Commander of the Republic of China Air Force. As the commander he mainly focused on modernizing the R.O.C. Air Force, and also advised Defense Minister Chen Rudai on his proposed 2008 Chinese military reform as it pertained to the air and space forces. He focused on the retirement of obsolete aircraft, improvements to pilot training, and changing the doctrine of the Air Force to focusing on supporting offensive operations as opposed to only defending the homeland. Many former Sierran aircraft that had been acquired in the 1970s or 1980s, the period of Sino-Sierran cooperation after the "opening and reform" policy in China, were removed from service.

Minister of Defense

Jia Yubing was appointed acting Minister of Defense upon the retirement of Chen Rudai in April 2010. In June of that year he was confirmed as the new Defense Minister.

One of his first acts was to established the Republic of China Rocket Force as a separate branch of the military, combining elements of the Air Force's Missile Command and Space Command, as well as the Army's Strategic Artillery Corps, into a new branch. Among the main roles of the new organization is controlling the Chinese arsenal of nuclear warheads. This was part of the implementation of the military reform plan put together by his predecessor. However, he retired abruptly in May 2012 due to health reasons.

Retirement

From 2015 to 2020 he worked as a military theorist at the Republic of China War College and the Air Command and Staff College.

Awards and decorations

Domestic

• Order of Blue Sky and White Sun, Grand Cordon
• Order of the Cloud and Banner, Yellow Grand Cordon
• Order of Loyalty and Diligence
• Order of Grand Community
• Order of Renaissance and Honor, 3rd Class
• Medal of the Armed Forces, 1st Class
• Medal of the Brilliant Light, 1st Class