Former Top Chinese Military Commander Dies at 58, Media Delays Reporting

Chinese President Xi Jinping drives in a car after inspecting the troops during a parade to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, at Tiananmen Square in Beijing on Oct. 1, 2019. Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

It took three weeks for Chinese state media to report on the death of a senior general of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

Zhang Xudong, former chief of the PLA’s Western Theater Command, died from illness in Beijing on Oct. 1, according to state media Xinhua News Agency on Oct. 21.