"War can break out any time – are you ready?" China is beefing up the People's Liberation Army with new ships and missiles, but also with hard hip-hop beats and heavy drops in a new video will help recruit elite troops "just waiting for the order to kill, kill, kill".
Forget soft power, this is heavy hip-hop power as the world’s biggest standing army with 2.3 million members sheds 300,000 personnel to build a modern high-tech combat force by shifting emphasis away from ground forces to missile corps, the navy and the air force.
Starting off slowly with a soldier putting on his white gloves, the video picks up pace and is soon a frantic montage of action sequences, with special forces troops taking out targets, soldiers dodging tripwires and loading their magazines. The lyrics are aggressive, punctuated by the “Sha! Sha! Sha!” (Kill! Kill! Kill!) chorus.
"Always think about the mission; the enemy forever in your sights" as fighter jets take out airborne targets, then sailors rattle off rounds from a warship's deck and march on the deck of China's first and to date only aircraft carrier, the Liaoning.
There is lots of footage of surface-to-air missiles being launched, a nod to the new missile corps which was one of the military units established by President Xi Jinping’s recent rejuvenation of the PLA’s Soviet-style command structure. The turned it into five theatre commands aimed at better integrating the different services.
Mr Xi recently took the new title of commander in chief of the PLA’s joint operations command centre, underlining the strength of his leadership as he takes a more direct role in running the military.
Satellite and scientific resources also feature, underlining the high-tech ambitions of the military, and altogether the message is of a highly organised and well-integrated military machine. The video also features footage of last September's major parade in Beijing to showcase the military's latest equipment.
It’s not all hardcore hip-hop, however. On China’s newly-minted man-made islands in the Spratlys, the legendary patriotic singer Song Zuying and a military entertainment troupe have just been dispatched to entertain the troops and construction workers there.
China has built airstrips and deployed missiles on the islands in the Spratly archipelago – known in the Pentagon as the Great Wall of Sand – and their construction has increased tensions with Vietnam, Philippines and Taiwan, all of which claim sovereignty.
Among the ditties on offer was the Ode to the South Sea Defenders, which tells of stout-hearted men defending themselves against wind and waves to keep the nation safe.
Some $5 trillion (€4.35 trillion) worth of shipping passes through the region annually and Beijing stands accused of trying to militarise the area. On which note, the state-run Xinhua news agency said China would carry out “routine” military exercises in the South China Sea this month involving advanced warships and submarines.
Xinhua said the ships, including a new guided missile destroyer, would take part in anti-submarine, anti-missile and other exercises.
