China relaxes phone use for its military
BEIJING: China has revised rules for People’s Liberation Army (PLA) personnel, easing their use of the internet on mobile phones and putting in place a standardised weight for troops.
Some regulations were aimed at strengthening political loyalty of the troops to the Communist Party of China.
The orders signed by President Xi Jinping, in his capacity as the chairperson of the Central Military Commission (CMC), were divided between the military’s interior (internal) order, code of conduct and military formation.
“The previous tight control on mobile phone use has been relaxed,” the PLA’S military website said.
The phones and social networking applications can be used after registering the hardware and applications’ accounts with commanding units.
“The revised regulation on the military code of conduct stipulated relevant rules regarding the military’s political loyalty, organisation, combat operations, training, work, confidential information, integrity, financial affairs, interaction with the people, and daily life,” the CMC training management department said in a statement.
It said the regulations will take effect from May 1.
“There are more and clearer instructions on behaviour and etiquette for PLA personnel. Members of the military are required to control their weight according to a certain standard,” the PLA website report said.
The new standards for weight for the troops were not revealed.
In 2015, the CMC had linked promotions to weight limits and fitness, saying it was a basic way to ensure a soldier’s physical and mental quality.