The Chinese Communist Party government has drafted a law requiring military training for children up to elementary school level. If passed, the bill could go into effect this year.
nikkei asia I got it. Some high schools and universities in China already require students to participate in basic military training, including training in the use of tanks, armored personnel carriers, grenades and rocket launchers, it said on Tuesday. Announced. Additionally, China’s military conscription law will be revised in May 2023, making all university students eligible for military conscription.
The new law would require schools to include “national defense education” in their budgets, universalize military training at high school and university levels, and teach elementary school students “theories, knowledge, and techniques related to national defense.” Become.
There are several motives for China’s sudden interest in child recruitment, one of which is to intimidate the Chinese people, who themselves live under constant threat of attack, from authoritarian rulers. It is to make people believe that only they can protect their children. Chinese subjects are asked uncomfortable questions about themselves. sputtering Economy; Seeing teenagers running around with grenades might change their minds.
The Beijing regime is also keen to show off its military power amid rising tensions with Taiwan and the Philippines, and wants young people to see it as an enthusiastic supporter of China’s aggressive policies. . nikkei asia Citing the national newspaper, People’s Liberation Army Daily, It claims that thanks to the government’s generous incentives for military service, the number of university students enrolled in the military has soared to more than 1.2 million.
In this handout photo provided by the Philippine Coast Guard, a Chinese Coast Guard ship uses water cannon to attack a Philippine Coast Guard ship that blocked its path near No. 2 Thomas Shoal in the Philippine-occupied South China Sea during a replenishment mission on Saturday. are doing. , August 5, 2023. The Philippine military on Sunday denounced the “excessive and aggressive” use of water cannon by Chinese Coast Guard ships to block the delivery of new troops, food, water and fuel to occupied shallow waters in the Philippines. did. The disputed South China Sea. (Philippine Coast Guard, via AP)
China is keen to infuse technology into its People’s Liberation Army (PLA), and preparing children for a career in the military from an early age could help advance that goal. The People’s Liberation Army needs more experts in artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and space technology, and needs to recruit more students.
Masafumi Iida of Japan’s National Institute for Defense Studies said that because the People’s Liberation Army has so much wealth and power, school administrators are trying to maximize “how many talented students schools can send into the military” to serve the people’s needs. He pointed out that they were trying desperately to please the PLA.
Voice of America News (VOA) I got it. The new law also centralizes military training by Communist Party officials, including the Central Military Commission, which is none other than dictator Xi Jinping.
“The amendment also calls on local military bases and central authorities to strengthen the guidance, supervision and organization of military training for students,” VOA added.
Timothy Heath, a senior fellow at the Rand Corporation, said the revised military education policy was a sign of nervousness to “legislate loyalty” amid a “softening economy, deteriorating real estate market, and persistent corruption and fraud.” He said that this is nothing but an effort by the Chinese Communist Party.
“The law is intended in part to strengthen recruitment into the People’s Liberation Army, which has consistently failed to attract sufficient numbers of educated young people despite high urban youth unemployment rates. “It’s possible that there are a lot of people in the workforce,” Heath told VOA, expressing skepticism of the People’s Liberation Army’s claims that college students have a high workforce. They broke down the recruitment office door in an eager attempt to register.
