The Communist Party of China is apparently planning to contain outrage and disenchantment among the nation’s youth by commanding colleges to “ramp up” military recruitment on campuses, the state-run Global Times reported on Thursday, funneling frustrated young people into the armed forces.
The edict from the Ministry of Education reportedly emphasizes the importance of pressuring “graduating seniors” into the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) rather than allowing them to build a civilian future.
High unemployment, a cratering real estate market, the complete collapse of the nation’s birth and marriage rates, and the repressive nature of communism have left both Millennials and “Gen Z” Chinese with little hope for the future, fostering a phenomenon known as “lying flat” in which young Chinese go through life with no career aspirations, do not build families, and amass no generational wealth. Some have taken to becoming “full-time children” — moving in with parents to care for them in their old age, with no plans to ever get a job or become a productive member of Chinese society. In late 2024, a social media trend featured unemployed young people posting videos pretending to work at an imaginary job in response to pressure to compete in the weakened Chinese economy.
Disappointment and rage among young Chinese has risen to such a level that China stopped publishing the youth unemployment rate in 2023 after the government recorded record-high rates.
The Chinese Communist Party has failed to improve the floundering real estate and job markets, instead flooding its industrial sector with slavery procured through the Uyghur genocide and from ethnic cleansing in Tibet. It is also now bracing for even more economic woe following President Donald Trump signing several executive orders aimed at rebuilding America’s manufacturing sector and making the country less dependent on Chinese imports.
Following the imposition of “reciprocal” tariffs on every nation that America trades with in early April, Trump announced this week that many nations other than China have begun negotiations with Washington to improve trade relations. As a result, he paused all tariffs for 90 days except for those on China, which he increased to 125 percent on Chinese products. China responded by imposing a 125-percent tariff rate on American imports, which form a significantly smaller percentage of its economy than the exports now tariffed by Trump. The Chinese government has also confronted America by unearthing decades-old footage of the world’s most prolific mass murderer, founder of communist China Mao Zedong, threatening then-President Dwight Eisenhower.
The Global Times did not mention the tariffs as having any relationship with the new military recruitment effort. It instead paraphrased the Ministry of Education declaring that “promoting military recruitment among university students serves as a foundational project to support national defense and military modernization.” It belied concerns regarding the economic disaster facing China by also describing funneling young men into the military as an “effective measure to broaden career development pathways for young students.”
The Ministry of Education is demanding the creation on college campuses of “an immersive recruitment environment by setting up recruitment information booths along main campus walkways, in canteens, and dormitory areas.”
“It suggests fostering a strong recruitment atmosphere through measures such as broadcasting promotional videos, hanging banners, putting up posters, and distributing brochures,” the Global Times explained. “Additionally, it encourages embedding recruitment campaigns into activities like freshman military training, campus job fairs, and graduation ceremonies to ensure targeted outreach.”
The directive follows a move in September to expand the military’s ability to meddle in education. The Communist Party approved amendments to the “Law on National Defense Education” that empowered the PLA to take on a more active role in deciding what students learn in schools.
“The revision improves provisions regarding students’ military training and adds provisions stating that national defense education on campus should be aimed at raising awareness among students of their legal obligation to perform military service,” the Global Times explained last year. “The local military organ is required to assist universities and schools in carrying out students’ military training, such as arranging training teachers and offering training venues and facilities, according to the amendment.”
Universities have traditionally been hubs of anti-government resistance in China, as they tend to be in many countries. College students famously spearheaded efforts to organize the peaceful pro-democracy protests that erupted during the slow fall of the Soviet Union, which prompted the barbaric Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989.
More recently, genocidal dictator Xi Jinping has faced resistance from students across the political spectrum. In 2018, Xi commanded the disappearance of Maoist pro-labor activists, including students, who organized advocacy for the rights of workers trapped in China’s dystopian factory complexes. Chinese nationals protesting the repressive “zero-COVID” lockdowns throughout 2022 included many young Chinese and students who dared Chinese police to arrest them for protesting by holding up blank pieces of paper. In January, colleges in Shaanxi province saw the emergence of a protest movement after a teen student fell to his death at a dormitory.
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