Fan Changlong
In 2012, ahead of the 18th Party Congress, he was appointed Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission.In mid-April 2016, he paid a visit to the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, according to the country’s Ministry of National Defense, which reported the visit on Friday 15 April 2016.Fan Changlong was said to have been the highest-ranking People’s Liberation Army officer ever to visit the Spratly Islands.General Fan led a delegation to the “relevant Nansha Islands to offer good wishes to officers and personnel stationed there, and also to understand the construction of facilities on the islands,” said a brief statement from the Ministry of National Defense.[2] Fan Changlong retired from Politburo after the 19th Party Congress in October 2017 and from Central Military Committee in March 2018.