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 People’s Liberation Army (PLA), according to an article published in the Study Times (學習時報), a magazine affiliated with the China’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 PLA’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 army’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 PLA’s martial spirit and always be battle-ready.
Commenting on the article, officials from Taiwan’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, it’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.”
The official added that there have always been a few soldiers with a slightly more feminine temperament.
Speaking of a case he witnessed a decade ago, the official mentioned he had come across a soldier who spent at least half an hour applying facial cream and fixing his eyebrows each day, adding that the solder even rubbed on sun block and protection cream before exercises and drills.
The Army watched him closely, concerned he might be bullied, but found that he was treated respectfully by his comrades, the officer said, adding that aside from being overtly attentive to his appearance, the Army found nothing wrong with the recruit and did not interfere.
PEACE AND STABILITY: Maintaining the cross-strait ‘status quo’ has long been the government’s position, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan is committed to maintaining the cross-strait “status quo” and seeks no escalation of tensions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday, rebutting a Time magazine opinion piece that described President William Lai (賴清德) as a “reckless leader.” The article, titled “The US Must Beware of Taiwan’s Reckless Leader,” was written by Lyle Goldstein, director of the Asia Program at the Washington-based Defense Priorities think tank. Goldstein wrote that Taiwan is “the world’s most dangerous flashpoint” amid ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said that the situation in the Taiwan Strait has become less stable
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi yesterday lavished US President Donald Trump with praise and vows of a “golden age” of ties on his visit to Tokyo, before inking a deal with Washington aimed at securing critical minerals. Takaichi — Japan’s first female prime minister — pulled out all the stops for Trump in her opening test on the international stage and even announced that she would nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize, the White House said. Trump has become increasingly focused on the Nobel since his return to power in January and claims to have ended several conflicts around the world,
REASSURANCE: The US said Taiwan’s interests would not be harmed during the talk and that it remains steadfast in its support for the nation, the foreign minister said US President Donald Trump on Friday said he would bring up Taiwan with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) during a meeting on the sidelines of the APEC Summit in South Korea this week. “I will be talking about Taiwan [with Xi],” Trump told reporters before he departed for his trip to Asia, adding that he had “a lot of respect for Taiwan.” “We have a lot to talk about with President Xi, and he has a lot to talk about with us. I think we’ll have a good meeting,” Trump said. Taiwan has long been a contentious issue between the US and China.
UKRAINE, NVIDIA: The US leader said the subject of Russia’s war had come up ‘very strongly,’ while Jenson Huang was hoping that the conversation was good Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and US President Donald Trump had differing takes following their meeting in Busan, South Korea, yesterday. Xi said that the two sides should complete follow-up work as soon as possible to deliver tangible results that would provide “peace of mind” to China, the US and the rest of the world, while Trump hailed the “great success” of the talks. The two discussed trade, including a deal to reduce tariffs slapped on China for its role in the fentanyl trade, as well as cooperation in ending the war in Ukraine, among other issues, but they did not mention
RSS