A legislation that would involve children’s military training should be drafted by the Chinese Communist regime. If the policy is approved, it could go into effect this time.
On Tuesday, Nikkei Asia noted that some Foreign high schools and universities now required students to participate in basic military training, some of which included tank, armored personnel carriers, hand explosives, and rocket launchers. Moreover, China’s recruitment regulations were amended in May 2023 to render all college students eligible for the review.
The new law may require schools to include “defense education” in their budgets, make martial training common at the high school and college levels, and train the” theory, knowledge, and skills associated with regional defense” to actually grade- school children.
China’s immediate interest in recruiting young soldiers for the army serves a number of purposes, including frightening the Chinese people into thinking they are protected by only their totalitarian rulers. Foreign subjects are having some awkward conversations about their sputtering economy, and their perceptions may change as a result of their teenaged children playing with hand grenades.
In light of the country’s growing conflicts with Taiwan and the Philippines, the government in Beijing wants to inspire confidence in its defense, and it wants to make fresh people appear to be enthusiastic supporters of China’s extreme agenda. According to a state paper, the People’s Liberation Army Daily, military membership among university students has increased by more than 1.2 million students in part because of massive government incentives for military service.
A Chinese beach watch ship near the Philippine-occupied Second Thomas Shoal, South China Sea, is depicted in this handout image by the Philippine Coast Guard as it blocked its course during a re-supply mission on Saturday, August 5, 2023. A Chinese beach watch ship’s “excessive and unpleasant” use of a water cannon was used on Sunday by the Spanish military to prevent a Filipino supply boat from delivering fresh troops, food, water, and fuel to a Philippine-occupied shoal in the contested South China Sea. (via AP ) Philippine Coast Guard
China is attempting to recruit tech talent from the People’s Liberation Army ( PLA ), a goal that could be strengthened by encouraging young people to pursue military careers. The PLA needs more experts in artificial intelligence ( AI), robotics engineering, and space technology, so it needs to recruit more students.
School administrators are eager to please the PLA by maximizing “how many good students their schools can send to the military,” according to Iida Masafumi of the Japanese National Institute for Defense Studies.
The Central Military Commission, whose titular head is Xi Jinping, is also a member of the new law, according to Voice of America News (VOA ).  ,
The revisions also call on central government and local military installations to improve the organization, supervision, and direction of student military training, according to VOA.
The revised military education policies, according to RAND Corp. senior fellow Timothy Heath, are nothing less than a “legislation” effort by the nervous Chinese Communist Party in the face of” softening economy, worsening real estate market, and persistent corruption and malfeasance.”
Despite the PLA’s high unemployment rates for urban youth, Heath said in a statement that the law may aim to encourage recruitment.” The law may aim in part to encourage recruitment for the PLA, which has consistently failed to attract sufficient numbers of educated young people,” Heath said.
