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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| US Army isn't alone - China also having problems with girly-man recruits |
| 2011-03-13 |
| Unease over a lack of masculinity and growing femininity amongst young Chinese men in their late teens and early 20s has some in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) concerned about its possible impact on the PeopleÂ’s Liberation Army (PLA), according to an article published in the Study Times (學習時報), a magazine affiliated with the ChinaÂ’s Central Party School Publishing House. Written by Xu Sen (許森), the article claims that the worst thing an army has to fear is not a lack of opponents, but a lack of “strong” adversaries. Most of the PLAÂ’s recruits have never been to battle, and the children from one child families born in the 1980s and 1990s account for a majority of recruits, the article said. The growing femininity of men is directly impacting the quality of the PLA, making it a “socially disturbing” phenomenon, the article said. “It has been 31 years since the PLA fought an actual battle, and peace undermines an armyÂ’s fighting ability,” the article said, adding that the suggestion soldiers do not need to physically exert themselves in the age of technological warfare is wrong. It listed US GIs fighting in Iraq as an example. “They walk hundreds of miles with gear weighing 10kg, stand duty in tents exceeding 50oC and face guerilla attacks from out of nowhere. You have to be strong of body and mind for that,” the article said, concluding with a call to remain vigilant, maintain the PLAÂ’s martial spirit and always be battle-ready. It's always interesting to see the US Armed Forces from the outside. We don't realize how strong we appear to the world. Commenting on the article, officials from TaiwanÂ’s Ministry of National Defense said that the military does not ask its soldiers about their sexual preference. “The younger generations are less pressure-resistant. The more feminine recruits entering service have to be watched carefully, in case bullying happens,” they said. As for training, itÂ’s well known in the military that the younger generation is not used to strenuous exercises, a retired Taiwanese officer said on condition of anonymity. As such, the practice of holding exercises outdoors when the temperature exceeded 32oC was scrapped, the official said. The practice was only later restored in 2006 by then-minister of national defense Hu Chen-pu (胡鎮埔), saying that the PLA could invade Taiwan anytime and that “it would not choose weather suitable for our soldiers to fight.” Damn straight. |
| Posted by:gromky |
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| Posted by: Fi 2011-03-13 20:18 |
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