Taipei: Beijing faces a serious challenge of keeping its military in shape as the youth in the country have shown reluctance to join the defence forces due the concerns related to career growth. financial prospects and the emotional fallout of the demographic crisis. And nowserving personnel have expressed their unwillingness todeploy in the cold desert, high-altitude region of Tibet.  

In order to force the youth to join the armed forces, the Communist Party-ruled (CCP) government in China has come up with a draft plan that mandates fundamental military training for them. Yet, the youth in China remainstubborn about their decision. “In the past, no one really paid attention to this; the most you’d get is a phone call from your neighbourhood committee reminding you,” said Beijing-resident Han, who said military service “holds little appeal” among many urban young people.

Government agencies, private institutions, NGOs, schools and colleges were made to urge the youth to join the Chinese armed forces as their obligation in accordance with the law, even as state-run media warned them about negative consequences, such as being barred from education, jobs, if they failed to do so.But experts and observers feel it will have very low impact as the military job neither seemed attractive nor offered better remuneration to the youth. 

Recently, a soldier named Huang Moumou refused to serve in Tibet, fearing hardship in the tough terrain. While Moumouwas penalised for his action, the event sparked a huge discussion on social media. “I want to join the army, but I’m afraid of the hardships,” said oneon Weibo, an equivalent of X.A Chinese soldier was seen crying in a purported video shared online while he was posted in a high-altitude zone on the Indian border in 2020.

The youth did not find prospects of promotion and even financial stability if they joined the armed forces,said Yao Cheng, a former Lieutenant Colonel Staff Officer of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy Command. “China's military has not added a penny to its salary for more than two years, but many benefits have been cancelled. The state does not distribute it, and after two years of serving in the army, you still have to find a job,” Cheng said. “Who would want to serve in the military? Future wars are becoming increasingly likely, and (parents) are reluctant to send their children to the battlefield.”

China’s working-age and youth shareis shrinking due to a demographic crisis, which is the result of an ageingpopulation and the legacy of the one-child policy. So the increasing parental resistance to enlistment and lowering tolerance for physical riskhave had lasting structural effects on military recruitment.

China’s demographic decline is accelerating faster than even pessimistic forecasts predicted, said Ryan Agee,a national security expert and former US military officer. “Its demographic collapse erodes both economic and military potential.The consequences ripple across the system: labour shortages, surging pension obligations, and a contracting pool for military recruitment,” he said. 

The Chinese military acknowledged that it had become less attractive to young people.  Xie Xiaobo, Chief of Staff at the Guizhou Xingyi military command in southern China,said “There are multiple reasons. The youth population shrank due to birth policies, employment is better as the economy turns around…the military is becoming less attractive because some beneficial policies aren’t being implemented.”

Social media is full of messages that lambast the CCP government for using the conscription issue to hide its failures. “The CCP requires all male citizens aged 18 and above to register for service; otherwise, it will affect schooling and job hunting. Amid the chaos of infighting among the top leadership, they still want ordinary people to collectively serve as cannon fodder,” posted a pro-democracy activist on X. “Remember, absolutely do not listen to the CCP and go registe”.

Despite the authoritarian rule, the Beijing government has failed in compelling young people to join military services, said Jennie W. Wenger, a senior economist at RAND Corporation, a California-based research institute.“Campaigns to recruit directly from universities have met with limited success. Despite high unemployment among Chinese university graduates, most Chinese youth prefer to seek job opportunities outside the military,” she said. “In general, life in the PLA is widely perceived as harsh, and the economic and social benefits accruing from military service are perceived as extremely limited.”