"Studied Hard to Get into University, but Military Training Made Mandatory in Jung"

NPC Pushes for Mandatory Military Training

Recently, a bill mandating basic military training for high school and university students is being promoted in China.

On the 10th (local time), Chinese state-run Xinhua News Agency reported that the 14th National People's Congress Standing Committee is holding its 11th meeting at the Beijing Great Hall of the People until the 13th to review the draft amendment to the National Defense Education Law. This amendment requires high schools and universities to conduct marching and shooting training, and schools that do not comply may face criminal prosecution. The costs of military training are expected to be borne by local governments.

Military training scene at Tsinghua University, China. [Image source=Tsinghua University]

This measure appears to be aimed at strengthening national security. Earlier, the Chinese Ministry of Education decided to apply new textbooks emphasizing national security, rule of law, and the strengthening of the sense of community of the Chinese nation to all grades in the compulsory education stage. In history textbooks, contents such as the China-India border dispute and the China-Vietnam border dispute were included to teach that national security is the top priority.

Some schools in China are already conducting military training for freshmen. This military training is called 'Junxin (軍訓)', which was made mandatory for freshmen in universities and high schools following the 1984 revision of the Military Service Law. Prestigious universities such as Tsinghua University and Peking University are known for the intensity of their training, and the training programs vary by school. For example, Tsinghua University is famous for conducting a 20 km night march training.

However, there is considerable opposition locally. This is because there have been cases where students have died during intense training. On the 25th of last month, a female student at a vocational technical high school in Shandong Province was hospitalized due to heatstroke during military training and later died.