Chinese military forces are said to have opened fire on a group of protesting Tibetans, killing one and wounding 30 others, according to Free Tibet, an activist group campaigning for self-determination by Tibetans. The incident happened after a large gathering in Draggo (also Drango, or Luhuo in Chinese), some 600km westwards of Chengdu. more ›

This one is for you ladies (and for some of you men)... more ›

Jennifer Gonnerman of New York magazine has a riveting account of the life and death of Private Danny Chen, a 19-year-old Chinese-American soldier who was found with a gunshot to his head in Afghanistan. The gunshot, as it turned out, was not inflicted by armed Afghan rebels, but by Chen himself. The abuse that he had to put up from his platoon mates for being the only Asian guy around was too much to bear. more ›

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Peter Enav of the Associated Press writes:

A survey published this week by Taiwan's Commonwealth Magazine appears to confirm that Taiwan's process of demilitarization is rapidly gaining steam. Based on a sample of students aged 12 to 17, it found only 38.7 percent would be ready to see either themselves or a family member fight if a new war broke out, while 44.3 percent would not. The remainder had no opinion. more ›

"We are in debt up to our ears to China. Well over $1 trillion we owe to them. That means we're making substantial interest payments to China. When we send our hard-earned money to China, that's our tax money. And what that means is we have less money for our military. And we just saw this year because of the failure of the Super Committee, $1 trillion less will be available for national defense. more ›

A report released on Monday by the Senate Armed Services Committee revealed that the US military's ever expanding supply chain is rife with counterfeit parts, the majority of them coming from China. Fake parts were found installed on seven aircraft, on systems manufactured by Raytheon Co., L-3 Communications Holdings Inc., and Boeing Co. more ›

Take a look at the Economist's illustration of the world's standing military personnel by country. China boasts the largest numbers at over 2.25 million. Surprisingly (maybe?) China ties with the US on air force size and its navy isn't far behind (worth noting that China's air force alone dwarfs the size of Britain's entire military). But as far as who is most "heavily militarized", measured by personnel per 1,000 population, the USA is three times more militarized than China, and North Korea blows everybody else out of the water. And does that big grey "other" section of the Russian military make anybody else nervous? more ›

"China has an excellent growth momentum at the moment, and people at my age prefer stability. If there is any unrest, none of us will have any food left on the table. But what's increasingly worrying, though, is that the solutions we're employing to solve problems are increasingly outmoded. Not only are they increasingly unable to deal with problems, there is always that last resort of calling on the troops. Now how does that solve problems? As the contradictions pile up, I'm afraid political reform has now become more imperative than ever." more ›

Shanghaiist reader Matthew Elton responds to Sarah Palin's comments on China's military buildup, in a comment on our Facebook page:

‎"What's with the military buildup? China's military growth can't just be for defensive purposes." more ›

More photos on the Shanghaiist Contribute page. To see your photos on our Contribute page, use Flickr and tag your photos “shanghaiist”. Or you can email your photos to photos@shanghaiist.com and they will automatically appear on our site (and here). more ›

We posted shots of new army recruits training out in Xinjiang earlier and now we've got our hands on some more Xinjiang military photos -- this time of soldiers border patrolling 5492 meters above sea and at -37 degrees. more ›

One-month old recruits stationed in the Bortala Mongol Autonomous Prefecture in Xinjiang receive training at temperatures as low as minus 30℃. more ›

As part of their winter endurance training, cadets at the Second Artillery Command College and military police trainees based in Altay, Xinjiang train outdoors in temperatures as low as minus 35 degrees celsius and rub handfuls of snow on their bare chests. more ›

Lineage lovers take heed: another Mao has been added to the political mix! According to Singtao News, Mao Xinyu, the grandson of Mao Zedong, has become the youngest general in the Military at the ripe age of thirty nine. Besides being the youngest man to be appointed to such high office, he is also the first general to be born after 1970, which seems to explain his Aretha Franklin-eqsue hand movements. more ›

• When I grow up I want to be a corrupt official [Black and White Cat] "On the first day of term, Southern Metropolis Daily asked primary school children in Guangzhou what they want to be when they grow up. Here are some of the answers."
• China pupils told to love nation [BBC] "Chinese children are being told that the first lesson they must learn this school year is "love your country". The ministry of education has produced a special TV programme to encourage patriotism among the nation's youngsters. It is being broadcast as tens of millions of children head back to their classes after the summer holidays."
• U.S., Australia to Ask China to Exercises - Report [Reuters] "China will be asked by the United States and Australia to join military exercises to repair ties after a diplomatic row between Canberra and Beijing, a top U.S. military official said on Thursday. Following a meeting between Australia's military chief Angus Houston and U.S. Pacific Command head Admiral Timothy Keating, both countries agreed to approach China's defense ministry about joint naval and land exercises, Keating told the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper in an interview. "We are anxious to engage with them," Keating said."

China's "blueprint for a worldwide revolution" according to the US Navy in 1964. [h/t to Mutant Palm] more ›

Highly controversial (and tit-tilating) art works from 53 year old Beijing-born painter Hu Ming (呼鸣). Hu's parents were military doctors who had always hoped their daughter would some day become a great surgeon. During her days in high school when the Cultural Revolution was in full swing, Hu's time was all spent either drawing the portrait of Chairman Mao (after her teacher found out she loved painting) or studying the Little Red Book. Finding it all very boring, Hu begged her parents to let her join the army. They relented, and at age 15, Hu joined the People's Liberation Army, where she would serve another 20 years in various roles as a hospital broadcaster/announcer, a librarian, a projectionist, recreational club director, cultural secretary and nurse. [h/t to Wang Ning] more ›

From Al-Jazeera:

China's staunch support of Sudan's government has led some to question Beijing's involvement in the UN peacekeeping mission to Darfur. more ›

China's premier on Wednesday extolled the prosperity the Communist government has brought to many Chinese, yet he sounded an alarm that inflation could derail the country's rapid emergence. more ›

Now that the People's Liberation Army has been called in to battle the snow and the terms "war", "disaster" and "national crisis" are being used in association with the present weather conditions, we're feeling guilty for making a snowman yesterday in the park and secretly loving every flake. more ›

A lady loves a man in uniform, but the police officers of Hefei have definitely taken this mystique to the next level with their strenuous winter training. What could be more attractive than young, shirtless officers rubbing snow on their chests and doing push-ups? Ya, we couldn't think of anything either! Ladies (and gentlemen), we present you with two images to warm your hearts on those cold Shanghai nights. And let's hear no more complaints about your drafty apartment and your cold fingers. more ›