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Liu Zhen

Chinese soldiers could be rewarded in cryptocurrency tokens for good performance if the country’s armed forces embrace blockchain technology, a military newspaper has suggested.
Applying the technology to managing the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) would drive innovation, the military mouthpiece PLA Daily said on Tuesday.
The article suggested establishing a digital currency token reward system for staff performance assessments based on criteria such as training, speciality skills, task completion and others.
“To award or deduct tokens according to one’s daily performance and thus generate an objective assessment would effectively energise the human resource management,” it said.




This came a few weeks after President Xi Jinping spoke about blockchain, which stirred a market surge for cryptocurrencies and related company shares.
In a group study session on blockchain with other top Communist Party leaders, Xi called for faster development of the technology and more investment in it.
“More efforts should be made to strengthen basic research and boost innovation capacity to help China gain an edge in theories, innovation and industries of the emerging field,” Xi said.
Chinese state media draws line between blockchain and cryptocurrencies
Government departments have already responded by exploring possible applications, such as in anti-corruption measures.
Blockchain is a system of decentralised encrypted digital ledgers that should be unalterable by design, making them impossible to copy.
The chain grows through each new transaction recorded, with records of previous transactions kept for verification. Its characteristics could make it suitable for use wherever tracking records and trustworthiness is required.




“Blockchain technology solved the problem of traditional digital data being vulnerable to tampering or hacking and lack of credibility,” the PLA Daily article said.
The article listed other possible ways to make full use of such advantages. For instance, it suggested that classified military secrets could be stored using embedded blockchains with higher-level encryption, so that they could be distributed but not copied, greatly improving information security.
Another example it suggested was an electronic shooting range that detects markings on a target automatically and generates blockchain records of each trainee, “in order to maximise the authenticity of training results”.
People can pledge loyalty to the Communist Party of China on blockchain
“It provides a technological guarantee to clean and open training and examination,” it said.
Just as the civilian logistics industry has adopted blockchain to trace and track food supply chains from farms to shops, the PLA could use the technology of immutable records in its military logistics and supply management, the article suggested.
A decentralised interaction model could smooth interdepartmental cooperation within the military and in human resource management, while blockchain could also be applied in the storage of personal data, the article said.


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Reward Chinese soldiers in cryptocurrency, military mouthpiece says

The newspaper of China’s armed forces proposed ways of using blockchain weeks after it was championed by President Xi Jinping, who is chairman of the Central Military Commission. Photo: Xinhua

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President Xi Jinping presents a flower basket commemorating deceased PLA Air Force officers in Beijing on Friday. Photo: Xinhua

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The Chinese and US militaries are keen to avoid mishaps in the South China Sea. Photo: Xinhua

Chinese state media warns that blockchain push is not a green light for speculation on cryptocurrencies

Representation of the Bitcoin virtual currency seen on a PC motherboard in this illustration picture. Photo: Reuters

Sichuan beckons power-hungry cryptocurrency miners to the home of the pandas with cheap and plentiful hydroelectricity

Sichuan is China’s biggest producer of hydropower. Last year, it produced 78.2 gigawatts. Photo: Xinhua

FILE PHOTO: A man sits in front of the headquarters of the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank, in Beijing, China October 17, 2013. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo

graphic for online CANADA 18 megawatts US 27 megawatts VENEZUELA ICELAND 5 megawatts SWEDEN 10 megawatts ESTONIA 2 megawatts CHINA 111 megawatts CHINA GEORGIA THAILAND 60 megawatts Hong Kong POLAND 1,000km Xinjiang Liaoning Anhui Tibet Sichuan Jiangsu Yunnan Guizhou Heilongjiang Inner Mongolia Global cryptocurrency mining sites Reported mining facilities Estimates not available Source: University of Cambridge SCMP 10 megawatts or less 11-50 megawatts >50 megawatts Low-cost electricity Fast internet connection Low-temperature zones Low-cost electricity/ Low-temperature zones Low-cost electricity/ Fast internet connection Low-temperature zones/ Fast internet connection Low-cost electricity/ Low-temperature zones/ Fast internet connection

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China

Military

PLA Daily shows enthusiasm for blockchain after President Xi Jinping called for faster adoption of it
Giving tokens for good performance could energise human resource management, the newspaper says


PLA Daily shows enthusiasm for blockchain after President Xi Jinping called for faster adoption of it, with the newspaper saying giving tokens for good performance could energise human resource management.
