PLA uses rap-style music video as new recruiting tool

The People's Liberation Army (PLA) has released a rap-style music video filled with masculine lyrics and advanced weapons on ThursdayIn in an attempt to attract more young men to join the military.

The song, called Battle Declaration, is published on 81.cn, the PLA Daily's website. It's the first hip-hop video made by the PLA.

The video starts with a young PLA soldier touching?his uniform and his cap. Then a man's voice comes in and starts reading a rhythmic parallelism, "There are always a mission in a soldier's mind, enemies in their eyes, responsibilities on their shoulders, and passions in their hearts".

The song then goes on to say, "There could be a war at any time, are you ready for that?"

The video shows soldiers' training and exercising, fighter jets, dog-fighting, firing missiles, among many other military activities.

The PLA is striving to recruit more educated young people. An increasing number of media reports say some youngsters spare no efforts to avoid being drafted.

Colonel Wu Qian, a spokesman for the Defense Ministry, said at a news conference on Thursday that a man's youth is not only about being cool at the time being, but also about being responsible for the nation and its security.