PLA brushes up ‘window to HK’ image

A total of 300 manageriallevel soldiers and grass-roots cadres from the People’s Liberation Army Hong Kong Garrison joined a half-day training camp in the HKSAR on May 24 to familiarize themselves with the army’s new rules.

A set of revised regulations governing the responsibilities and discipline of PLA members was introduced earlier last month to keep up with the PLA’s rapid evolution and to facilitate the military’s modernization efforts.

The new rules, covering every aspect of military life, including administrative procedures, duties and formalities, as well as chains of command and discipline, took effect on May 1.

The PLA’s Hong Kong garrison, as the military’s window to Hong Kong society, should take the lead in following and honoring the new guidelines, said a spokesperson for the local PLA garrison.

In the past 20 years, the garrison has been practicing the principle of being a window to Hong Kong society despite its low-key presence in the city. It has opened up its barracks to visitors more than 28 times so far, attracting over 620,000 local people. And, they are also well-received by Hong Kong society, with all 26,000 free admission tickets being snapped up within four hours of them being issued in July 2016.

With the new rules in effect, the PLA Hong Kong Garrison quickly organized a training camp for its soldiers to learn the guidelines by bringing the old version on par with the new one so that they can be better studied and understood.

A one-hour video explaining the new rules was also arranged as one of the training programs to enable the soldiers to get a better understanding of the revised formalities.

After watching the video, Chen Suning, an instructor, said he had acquired a better understanding of the latest rules and has become more confident about them and the details.

In the meantime, a demonstration of the soldiers’ personal outfit, as well as other behaviors, was performed on the drill ground.

Wang Jinyu, a sergeant of the Guard of Honor at the PLA Hong Kong Garrison, was one of the demonstrators on the drill ground. She said a soldier’s remarks and behavior are not only linked to their personal image, but also that of the whole army.