Former senior military leader Zhang Zhen dies

BEIJING - Zhang Zhen, a former vice chairman of China's Central Military Commission, died at the age of 101 in Beijing at 5 pm Thursday.

An obituary issued by the central authority on Friday praised Zhang as "an excellent Communist Party of China (CPC) member, a time-tested and loyal communist soldier, a proletarian revolutionist and military strategist and an outstanding leader of the People's Liberation Army of China."

Zhang joined the CPC in 1930. He was conferred the title of lieutenant general in 1955 and the title of general in 1988.