1、1A Call to DutyTHE pageantry of the PRCs 60th anniversary military parade celebrating National Day stirred the hearts of the nation. It reinforced a sense of patriotism and pride and brought about a surge in army enlistments. Finding Honor in Service The men and women who have served in the nations
2、military have always held a place of honor and enjoyed an elevated social status since the founding of the Peoples Republic of China. “Servicemen were highly admired in the 1950s,” remarks Cheng Yanming, a 75-year-old veteran. After graduating from high school in 1956, Cheng signed up for the examin
3、ation of the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) Institute of Surveying and Mapping. Subsequently, he spent 38 years in the army and “never felt any regret” over his choice. Many women consider marrying a serviceman to be an ideal choice. The Social Survey Center of China Youth Daily found 2that 20.5 perc
4、ent of women are in favor of choosing servicemen for husbands, just behind men with careers in IT (45.1 percent), public service (37.9 percent), medical profession (35.6 percent) and legal profession (29.5 percent). Particularly following the 2009 National Day military parade, there is greater prest
5、ige associated with solidering among the nations youth. Liu Guixia, a female student in the Tsinghua University School of Law, applied for the army almost immediately after graduation. “The countrys 60th anniversary grand military parade had a big effect on me; I couldnt wait to become a bright and
6、brave soldier,” Liu says excitedly. In the past, women could be admitted into the army only on the recommendation of their school, or work unit, or place of residence. Since 2009, recruitment of female soldiers has been open to the public. To encourage university graduates to join the army, the age
7、limit has been extended to 24 for women holding a bachelors degree. Recruiting on the Nations Campuses On November 1, 2009 over 3,000 young people in Chengdu, capital city of Sichuan Province, signed up to join the army. 3Forty percent of them had at least a junior college level education or above.
8、Du Kun, an 18-year-old freshman from Sichuan Normal University, expressed his long held wish to become a solider. He plans to return to his school and complete his studies following his two-year compulsory military service. Officially, military service in China is compulsory for all men who attain t
9、he age of 18. In 2009, the country enlisted more graduates from senior high schools and universities than ever before. With the aim of improving the quality of recruits, applicants with a higher educational background are given priority in enrollment. A total of 130,000 university graduates in the c
10、ountry were recruited in 2009, as compared with 39,000 in 2008. The figure stood at only 1,000 in 2001, the first year servicemen were recruited on campus. Yao Tianli now holds an administrative position in the Fuzhou-based naval division in Fujian Province. After graduating from the Beijing Univers
11、ity of Technology, Yao chose not to look for a job and settle down in Beijing like his counterparts, but instead became the only graduate of his university to join the army. “As far back as my graduation from high school, I desired to enter a military college, but I 4was unable to at that time. My d
12、ream has finally come true.” Yao Tianli continues proudly, “The military values and rewards soldiers with better educational backgrounds; I was made lieutenant, deputy company commander upon joining the navy after graduation.” Yao was first sent to train at the Dalian Naval Academy of the PLA for on
13、e year and later served on a few of the naval fleets warships. “By taking those assignments, Ive moved up the ranks quickly.” New governmental policies have been created to attract the nations brightest into the service. To university students who perform a two-year compulsory military service, the
14、government offers tuition reimbursement packages, along with student loans of up to RMB 6,000 per year. In Beijing, the annual subsidy for servicemen has been raised from RMB 10,000 to 15,000. Apart from financial support, college students enjoy additional benefits from those extended to the rank an
15、d file, like accelerated promotions and opportunities for further education. All of these policies can be attractive to university graduates and undergraduates alike who are now facing employment difficulties resulting from the current economic crisis. In 2009, a total of 15,000 young people in Beij
16、ing passed the preliminary examinations, more than half of 5whom were college students. That figure is four times as many as in the previous year. Not Just a Job As a staff member at the military drafting center in Junan County, Shandong Province, Wang Changyun witnessed a boom in enlistments in the
17、 last two decades of the 20th century. In his county, most of the applicants were from rural villages. Wang remembers that in the 1980s, a child joining the army was considered a great honor for the family. “At that time, young men from the countryside were rarely able to enter universities. Therefo
18、re, serving in the army was the ideal way to make a better life in an urban area. Besides, servicemen were always placed in good jobs after they retired from the army.” Wang himself was transferred to a position in the county government after completing his military service. However, as Chinas econo
19、my developed quickly at the end of the 1990s, rural youth found themselves exposed to alternative opportunities for a better life. Apart from a greater access to higher education, large numbers of villagers began flocking to big cities to take work in areas of demand. 6Meanwhile, the chances of gett
20、ing a job with a government department became slimmer, making joining the army less attractive to young people. “But the situation has changed since then,” says Wang Changyun. “Soldiers have been enjoying much higher salaries in recent years. In some places, incomes for servicemen can be higher than
21、 their civilian peers.” For parents, however, their childrens military experience means much more than basic monetary rewards. Mrs. Sun, a resident of Beijing, sent her only son off to Inner Mongolia for his military service in 2005. “He was always hanging around with the wrong kind of people after
22、his graduation from high school. I was so worried about his future during that period.” To Suns delight, after returning from his three years service, her son had become thoughtful and sensible. “Now he has found a decent job and is living a peaceful life.” Recent graduate Liu Jingsheng from Beijing
23、 University of Science and Technology, along with dozens of his schoolmates, sent in their applications to join the military last month. Lius father, a veteran,often fondly recounts stories of his military days to his son. The father believes that young people 7today lack the strength and toughness that his generation possesses both physically and mentally. He is convinced that the discipline of the army, as well as its spirit of gallantry, would be character-forming for his son.
