China Armed Forces No.25,Vol.1,2014

    A first-class merit citation from the Central Military Commission; 16 gold medals in international competitions for special operations forces; pioneers in seven aspects of special forces training…. The list of accomplishments for this special forces regiment of the People’s Liberation Army goes on. At a recent live-fire exercise in the Laizhou Bay area, a squad from the regiment broke a stalemate between the red and the blue sides when they suddenly appeared at the blue army’s rear area to stage a surprise attack on important targets. China Armed Forces visited the regiment based at the foot of Mount Tai, in east China’s Shandong Province.

    Competitive streak

    “The Chinese special forces are not as strong as ours, and your equipment is not as advanced. Welcome to Europe.”

    This “greeting” was offered by foreign colonel to Zhang Xiuguang at a welcome dinner before the 14th session of the “Andrew Boyd” NATO international special forces competition in Slovakia in July 2009. Zhang was deputy head of the People’s Liberation Army delegation of eight soldiers from the regiment of special operations forces.

    “See you in the competition. Let’s see how the Chinese special forces perform,” answered Zhang.

    In the training bases of Slovakia, the Chinese competed with 13 other teams from eight countries, including Britain, the United States and Israel, all strong nations in special forces competitions. The competitors had to carry more than 20 kilograms of combat equipment and finish 13 events, including mountain climbing, boating, swimming, and the transit of ammunition across high mountains, thick forests and complicated terrain.

    The Chinese team encountered a challenge in the night competition, when Liu Dongpo, a team member, sustained a groin injury on the obstacle field.

    “You must pull out of the competition now,” the team doctor told Liu.

    But quitting meant losing points, which would affect the whole team’s results.

    “I can handle it. I must finish the competition and bring the gold medals back,” said Liu, who was struggling to stand and had been huddled on the ground in agony minutes earlier.

    In the end, team China won eight first places and broke six championship records in the 13 competition events.

    At the reception after the competition, the foreign colonel from the welcome dinner was contrite. “I really do admire the Chinese special forces,” he said. Local media hailed the Chinese team, describing their “Oriental magic!”