Military HQs urge care for ex-troops
Local areas told not to ignore old soldiers
Four headquarters of the People's Liberation Army have jointly ordered local governments to spare no effort in taking care of retired soldiers this winter.
Leaders of the Headquarters of the General Staff, General Political Department, General Logistics Department and General Armament Department gave the directive this week, the People's Liberation Army Daily reports.
A conference was told that disgruntled retired soldiers had become a major source of social unrest, with the instability also hurting the army's image.
'The arrangements for decommissioned soldiers have affected the overall development of the army, social stability and the image and reputation of our army,' the military newspaper said. 'We should protect the legal rights and interests of the decommissioned soldiers, according to the law and policies.'
However, some soldiers said they did not believe the order would guarantee benefits after leaving the army.
'This is just an apparent appeasement to ease our worries,' Lieutenant-Colonel Peng Zuoxue from the Jinan Military Command, said.
'Few local authorities would obey a directive given by the central military leadership.'
Soldiers have repeatedly called for increased pensions over the past decade, with hundreds of thousands of veterans across the nation being stopped from going to Beijing to petition before the opening of the Communist Party's 17th National Congress last month.
Retired soldiers' representative Hou Yingzhong , a 44-year-old former platoon commander in the Guangzhou's People's Armed Police, said former troops had been ignored in the past year.
'All our requests have been based on official documents and directives given by the Central Military Commission [CMC],' Mr Hou said. 'But local authorities just ignored it. They would rather deploy manpower to stop us from 'making trouble'.'
Another former officer, who refused to be named, said more than 1 million retired soldiers who had lost their jobs after being moved to state-owned enterprises had filed a lawsuit against the Ministry of Personnel. They were accusing it of breaking contracts protecting former soldiers' benefits, he said.
Huang Qi , a human rights activist who has campaigned about demobilisation issues for nine years, said the order given by the four headquarters was aimed at shifting responsibility for former troops' care.
'It was because the new CMC is not capable of handling the problem that they believe has been left to them by history,' Mr Huang said. 'But the real aim in issuing such an order is to build a positive image for the army to attract new blood.'
