Hundreds of protesters in green fatigues gather outside the Chinese Ministry of National Defense in Beijing in this October 11 photo (AP).
BEIJING — For Yu Shuiping and other Chinese veterans, the country they served has yet to show its gratitude.
Fed up with paltry pensions and benefits, they’re taking to the streets, hoping to shame the government into recognizing what they say is its obligation to those who battled in harsh conditions along the country’s borders.
While largely peaceful, the sporadic protests amplify concerns over labor unrest and threaten to undermine rank-and-file support for Communist Party leader Xi Jinping’s campaign to modernize the world’s largest-standing military by attracting better qualified and more highly motivated soldiers.
“We support the party and the government, and we don’t oppose the party or hate society,” Yu said in a phone interview from his home in the central province of Hunan. “We just want better treatment.” Yu has for years been petitioning the government for more benefits, although he declined to discuss the specifics of his efforts.
Activist Huang Qi, who tracks unrest in China, estimates that veterans have staged as many as 50 protests this year, highlighted by a demonstration last week outside the Defense Ministry in central Beijing, where such actions are extremely rare.