Military training unites stude

It is 12:50 pm at night. A flock of "soldiers," well uniformed and fully armed with equipment, begins marching in northwest Beijing. But anyone mistaking this as the Chinese army preparing itself for a surprise attack on an enemy army would be wrong. This is in fact the field training for some 3,000 freshmen from Tsinghua University who are taking a 20-kilometre military march. Starting from August through to early September, universities across the country are providing military training to their newly admitted students, on campus or off campus, by inviting People's Liberation Army (PLA) officers to instruct their students. And this summer there are more than 150 universities and colleges nationwide that are providing military training to their students, according to Wang Hezhong, a vice regimental commander and a committee member of the programme at Tsinghua University. Tsinghua University's military training programme, which ran from August 1 to 21, makes up two credits and is compulsory. Although students have to spend 20 exhausting days in the scorching summer sun, most of them say that they gained something positive from the programme. They say they have learned to work as part of a team and have become mentally and physically stronger. "My classmates are more disciplined than before, and our class has become more united than ever," said Lu Hui, an Accountant major at Tsinghua University. She insisted on taking part in the march despite having a bruised ankle. "Some of my classmates are still receiving training in spite of having skin wounds. We hope this will boost the morale of the whole class," she said. Liu Wen, one of the 50 assistants at the camp thinks that the military training courses are beneficial in terms of creating a sense of team spirit. But she warns that students can become physically drained and even ill as a result of the intense physical training. Last Friday Liu tells us that one of her students was rushed to hospital after getting a high fever and almost falling into a coma. Liu says that the training also teaches the group the importance of looking after the wounded. "They live together more happily now that they have been given a sense of military discipline," said Liu. But Chen Zhuozhuo, a junior majoring in Hydraulic and Hydropower Engineering, criticises the course for not moving with the times. "It is almost the same every year, step march, slogan shouting, and shooting practice," said Chen. "I hope the university military training will become more hi-tech in the future in addition to incorporating the more traditional aspects." An officer with the PLA who oversees the military training programme for university students hinted that the programme might be changed next year. "We need to make the military programme more modern. The new regulation is under discussion now," he said. (21st Century)