Youth military training in China: learning to ‘love the army’

ABSTRACT

Schools worldwide have long engaged in various forms of ‘war education’. In China, an extensive ‘Patriotic Education’ campaign and an expanded ‘National Defense Education’ curriculum have led to an increase in youth-oriented military programs in the 2000s. Previous work on the implementation of these programs in Chinese schools has mostly focused on urban elite youth, while overlooking the reception of these programs by non-urban, non-elite populations. The present study addresses this issue by examining youth perceptions and experiences of military training courses in urban and rural high schools. Drawing on the analysis of Chinese publications in the 2000s and on data from field interviews with students of different backgrounds, the study finds that youth military training constitutes a contentious program. Although the Chinese government promotes the program as crucial for military strengthening and the fostering of a patriotic spirit, PRC academic and media writers provide alternative rationales for the program, which at times undermine the logic of government articulations. Meanwhile, interviews with youth document divergent attitudes and even resentment towards the program, especially among city youth. This finding casts doubt on the assumption that military-training courses necessarily contribute to the increased ‘militarization’ of Chinese youth and education.

KEYWORDS:

• China
• education
• militarization
• nationalism
• youth attitudes

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 By law, all Chinese males must enlist in the military. As potential supply exceeds demand, however, there is no need for all youths reaching the age of enlistment to join the army (S. Wang 2015). As a result of multiple factors, including the effects of the One-Child policy, unattractive remuneration, the growth of the economic sector, and the liberalization of government controls over job assignments since the late 1990s, the PLA’s main challenge in the 2000s is to attract the best talent, particularly among well-educated, urban youth populations (Cliff 2015).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Spencer Foundation [grant number 201700072].