Chinese actress’ marriage shows rising social status of soldiers

A popular Chinese actress recently announced her marriage to a counter-terrorist military officer, which received praise online.

Zhang Xinyu, a Chinese actress with nearly 20 million followers on Weibo, announced on Sunday her marriage to He Jie, an officer in the Chinese People’s Armed Police Force.

The post has been shared 253,000 times with 467,000 comments and nearly three million likes as of press time.

Users congratulated her, saying their story is what true love should look like.

A Weibo user who is a junsao (“soldier’s wife” in English), wished Zhang well. “junsao’s life is really not easy.”

“It takes courage and commitment to become a junsao. All junsao should be complimented for their ability to see the greatness in soldiers,” said a newspaper run by the Central Commission for Disciplinary Inspection of the Communist Party of China.

Soldiers are often separated from their wives. The support of junsao and contribution to their families allow soldiers to concentrate on their duties, said the report.

Song Zhongping, a military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times on Thursday that the significance of this military marriage could be overstated, as it was freely chosen. Song said that the rise in the soldiers’ social status is the most important factor in military development.

Zhang and He met on a reality show on Hunan TV aired in November 2017.