A screen shot of the 2016 recruiting video for the People's Liberation Army titled Battle Declaration.

THE STATE COUNCIL, China's Cabinet, recently issued a guideline on armed forces recruitment which states that refusing to serve in the military or not allowing the military to requisition resources should be noted in people's credit records. Beijing Youth Daily comments:

To wear a military uniform used to be the dream of young people in the 1970s and 1980s. However, the reality now is that a military profession is no longer a favored choice among young people and the military finds recruitment increasingly difficult.

There are many reasons for this, such as more choices for young people. But the root problem lies in the lack of punishment for those refusing to serve in the military. The law clearly says that every Chinese citizen has the obligation to serve in the military, but in reality seldom has anybody received any penalty for refusing to do so.

That's rather detrimental to China's military strength. It is necessary to take measures to ensure that more young people are willing to join the armed forces.

Many countries have punishments for those refusing military service. For example, in the neighboring Republic of Korea, male citizens between 20 and 30 years old must serve in the military, those refusing face a prison sentence of one to three years. Only with such punishments can the country effectively ensure it has the necessary military strength.

In China too, the law says that those refusing to render military service cannot be employed as civil servants or other State employees. However, the law is not well regulated and some lawbreakers have escaped their deserved penalty.

The new guideline comes in time, because it is more executable－credit records are directly linked with residents' daily lives. So we expect the new guideline to help strengthen China's national defense.