The Poverty 'Leviation Army

The People's Liberation Army, according to this news report, will become more involved in "poverty alleviation."

The PLA is shown here in the process of liberating the Chinese people from the enormous burden of having to point out all the deficiencies of their oppressive government.

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) will now play a greater role in the country's poverty-alleviation campaign as part of the central government's efforts to build a prosperous and harmonious socialist society, according to a new circular jointly released by the State Council and the PLA.

Indeed, the PLA is known for its ability to foster, um, harmony.

But will it succeed in alleviating poverty? That may depend on whose poverty you are talking about. If, by "alleviation of poverty", you mean, "making sure the government gets plenty of real estate", the PLA is probably well-equipped for the job. One possible poverty-alleviation scenario for which Chinese leaders might envision a PLA role occurred recently in Shengyou.

Shocking footage of crowd control 'Chinese-style' has been obtained by Sky News.

The film shows dozens of hired thugs running amok in a village just 60 miles from the capital Beijing.

Villagers are shown being beaten with long canes while gunfire can be heard in the background.

Six villagers are reported to have died while 50 were injure

It is the worst footage of violence to emerge from the secretive country since the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989.

The trouble broke out after the hired hands, some wearing helmets and khakis, moved in to clear land needed by a nearby power station.

The state is land-poor and the PLA alleviates its poverty. Voila!

Responding to the call by the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the State Council, the Army has made a contribution to poverty-elimination in various forms for years, says the circular.

I bet it has!

-- CAV