Ngô Xuân Lịch

In this Vietnamese name, the surname is Ngô. In accordance with Vietnamese custom, this person should be referred to by the given name, Lịch.

Ngô Xuân Lịch (Vietnamese pronunciation: [ŋo˧˧ swən˧˧ lïk̟̚˧˨ʔ]; born 20 April 1954 in Hà Nam) is a former Minister of National Defence and Chief of the General Department of Politics of Vietnam.^[1] Ngô Xuân Lịch became a member of the Communist Party of Vietnam on 8 August 1974.^[1]

Đại tướng Ngô Xuân Lịch
11th Minister of Defence
In office 9 April 2016 – 7 April 2021
President	Trần Đại Quang Nguyễn Phú Trọng
Prime Minister	Nguyễn Xuân Phúc
Preceded by	Phùng Quang Thanh
Succeeded by	Phan Văn Giang
Chief of the General Department of Politics
In office 1 March 2011 – 15 April 2016
President	Trương Tấn Sang Trần Đại Quang
Preceded by	Lê Văn Dũng
Succeeded by	Lương Cường
Member of the Politburo
In office 27 January 2016 – 31 January 2021
Vice Chief of the General Department of Politics
In office 1 January 2008 – 1 March 2011
Personal details
Born	(1954-04-20) April 20, 1954 (age 71) Duy Tiên, Hà Nam Province, State of Vietnam
Political party	Communist Party of Vietnam (1974-present)
Alma mater	Military Academy of Vietnam
Military service
Allegiance	Vietnam
Branch/service	Vietnam People's Army
Years of service	1972–2021
Rank	General
Battles/wars	Vietnam War Cambodian–Vietnamese War

Ngô Xuân Lịch was previously Vice Chief of the General Department of Politics (January 2008 – 2011), and was promoted to the rank of four-star General in 2016. He replaced Lê Văn Dũng as Director of the General Department of Politics in March 2011.

Rank

Ngo Xuan Lich was promoted to Major General in 2003, then to Lieutenant General in 2008 and after that, Colonel General in 2011.

On October 5, 2015, he was promoted to General by the President along with Do Ba Ty who is now Vice-Chairman of National Assembly of Vietnam.^[2]

On January 28, 2016, he was elected to the Politburo of Communist Party of Vietnam at its 12th National Congress.^[3]

On April 9, 2016, he was appointed as the successor to Phung Quang Thanh and became the new Minister of National Defense of Vietnam.^[4]

Awards and honors

National awards

• Order of Ho Chi Minh^[5]
• Military Exploit Order (1st class)^[6]
• Military Exploit Order (3rd class)^[6]
• Feat Order (1st class)^[6]
• Feat Order (2nd class)^[6]
• Resistance Medal (1st class)^[6]
• Liberation Order (2nd class)^[6]
• Liberation Order (3rd class)^[6]
• Victory Banner Medal^[6]
• Glorious Fighter Medal (1st class)^[6]
• Glorious Fighter Medal (2nd class)^[6]
• Glorious Fighter Medal (3rd class)^[6]
• 50 years of Party membership badge^[7]

Foreign awards

• Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Sahametrei (Cambodia, 2019)^[8]

• Order of Playa Girón (Cuba, 2022)^[9]

• Freedom Medal (1st class) (Laos, 2019)^[8]

• Order of Friendship (Russia, 2021)^[10]