A relentless wave of street protests throughout China by angry and retired soldiers of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) has goaded local governments around the country to issue new regulations improving the welfare of veterans.
Retired soldiers of the PLA have, for decades, been demanding higher pensions; more access to jobs and improved medical care. Chinese state-owned media said part of the problem is that local governments aren't setting aside money to do this despite being ordered to do so by Beijing.
In 2017, the central government issued a new regulation demanding that over 80 percent of demobilized soldiers be given jobs in administrative organs, public institutes and state-owned enterprises (SOEs). This order has been ignored by local governments.
Chinese media said these policies are part of Beijing's efforts to improve veterans' welfare. The central government is urging local governments to strictly implement government policies that protect veterans.
Unfortunately for some veterans, reforms affecting SOEs plus the failure of some local governments to implement the policy led to many employed veterans losing their jobs and pensions.
Last week, another massive street rally by veterans angry at having to fend for themselves with their meager pensions broke out in the city of Zhenjiang in eastern Jiangsu Province. More than a thousand retired PLA veterans backed by local citizens and other supporters from around the country picketed local government offices; occupied the public plaza and a street for four days.
They sang and chanted and also asked the government to explain the beating of a fellow veteran by government-hired thugs after he asked for better benefits. After listening to the protests, Zhenjiang police resorted to physical force to evict the veterans from the square on June 24.
"What the Zhenjiang police did this week, clearing the scene by force, it's illegal," said Li Xiao, a 63-year-old former artillery soldier who drove more than 200 kilometers to Zhenjiang to show support for the protesters. "History will be the judge," he declared.
While the veterans protested in Zhenjiang, the Weicheng district government in East China's Shandong Province on June 21 announced 165 public welfare positions for retired soldiers. Previous to this, the local government of Zhaoqing in Guangdong Province offered retired soldiers free education at vocational schools for two years.
