Bans on online dating and using social networking sites are among the new restrictions for People’s Liberation Army soldiers. From the Wall Street Journal’s China Real Time blog:
Life in the People’s Liberation Army just got lonelier for single soldiers, after a series of classified leaks via the Internet prompted a ban on online dating, the state-run China Daily reported.
The new orders don’t stop at dating, however, and include banning military personnel from popular social-networking sites such as Kaixin001.
“Soldiers should not take part in any Internet interaction, even if they try to cover up their military identities, because they cannot ensure they will not be revealing any information relating to their job, including something they may consider irrelevant,” said Mu Xiankui, senior colonel and researcher from the China Academy of Military Science, according to the report.
The new measures may sound draconian for one of the world’s most rapidly modernizing militaries, but China’s armed forces remain among the world’s most secretive, and a puzzle for foreign observers.