Across China at the beginning of every school year, students are begrudgingly transferred to military training camps for days or weeks, where they are subject to a harsh regime of paramilitary training exercises, meant to test their endurance and demonstrate their obedience to authority. Students comply with the programs—they have no choice in the matter, after all—but in a number of recent incidents, the harsh approach of the military trainers has sparked violent conflict with the teenagers they were sent to instruct, and caused several deaths.
“Boys had to have their heads shaved, hair no longer than 3mm, and were punished by being made to sit in puddles,” a college freshmen who underwent military training told state news media recently.
Photos of freshmen from the Northwest University of Politics and Law in Xi'an City of Shaanxi Province show students in military uniforms marching in heavy rain, holding umbrellas, on Sept. 14, according to China Business News.
