Sexing up troops

The PLA has just completed a multi-million dollar redesign of its uniforms. The unimpressive baggy olive green wear that was introduced in 1997 is now giving way to western-style clothing.

“The new outfits fuse global trends with Chinese characteristics”, General Liao Xilong told Xinhua earlier this month. As its soldiers take part in larger numbers in multi-national peace-keeping operations, China decided that its troops must show some style and make a better impression.

The US $800 million make-over includes “digital camouflage” that applies pixel matrix technology to help PLA soldiers merge into various natural environments.

For normal use, the men will now get T-shaped uniforms that will broaden their shoulders and make them look taller. Female soldiers will don X-shaped uniforms that will squeeze their waistline to make them look “sassier”, the Xinhua reports. The women will also get higher heels which will now stand at 2 inches.

The writer is professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore