BEIJING: China has released a new set of revised rules for military recruitment in wartime, including giving priority to the veterans, drafting high-calibre soldiers and optimising conscription procedures, which an analyst described as combat readiness for a war over Taiwan.
A set of revised rules regarding military recruitment has been released by the State Council and the Central Military Commission (CMC) the high command of the Chinese military headed by President Xi Jinping aiming to provide institutional guarantees for consolidating national defence and building strong armed forces, state-run Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday.
The new regulation, with 74 articles in 11 chapters, focuses on recruiting more high-calibre soldiers, standardising and optimising conscription procedures, and improving the system’s efficiency, it said in a brief report.
The new rules will come into effect next month. The regulations said recruitment should “focus on preparing for war” and increase efficiency by calling up “high calibre” recruits, as per reports.
For the first time, a separate chapter on wartime recruitment has been included in the regulations, which state that ex-servicemen would be prioritised and expected to join their original units or similar positions. The new rules were promulgated as Beijing is facing geopolitical tensions on several fronts, including in the South China Sea.