China's Korean war veterans battle for benefits

Although they are often hailed by the state media as national heroes, veterans of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army (PVA) continue fighting a seemingly hopeless war for better retirement benefits.

Many of China's Korean war veterans still alive - most now well into their eighties - must survive on local government welfare and military service subsidies that rarely exceed a few thousand yuan a month. They receive no special medical benefits.

"Our country still fails to come up with a comprehensive system to take care of veterans and their families," said Huang Zhao, 78, a Korean war veteran who lives in Guangzhou.

Huang, who worked as a telegraph operator in the PVA's air force, said he is lucky that he and his wife together collect 7,000 yuan (HK$8,800), thanks in part to jobs they held after the war.

But he said most other Korean war veterans he knows are living in poverty. Many veterans and their families have travelled to Beijing looking for help from the central government.

"But the petitions all failed," Huang said. "The central government just passed our problems to local governments, who always see veterans as troublemakers."