Welcome to Foreign Policy’s China Brief.

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army looms large in U.S. military strategy, often portrayed as a rapidly modernizing adversary in a war yet to come. In lieu of our usual news coverage, this week we take a closer look at the lives of ordinary Chinese soldiers. (We’ll return to the experiences of officers in a future column.)

Welcome to Foreign Policy’s China Brief.

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army looms large in U.S. military strategy, often portrayed as a rapidly modernizing adversary in a war yet to come. In lieu of our usual news coverage, this week we take a closer look at the lives of ordinary Chinese soldiers. (We’ll return to the experiences of officers in a future column.)

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Though most recruits to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) are formally conscripts, it has always effectively been a volunteer force. Enlistment is not coercive, and the military has rarely struggled to meet its targets. All university students undergo a brief period of compulsory military training, but it is little more than marching, shouting, and propaganda.

The social status of Chinese soldiers has fluctuated over time. Historically, military service was often seen as brutal, dangerous, and unsuitable for civilized men. This was reinforced by Confucian historians, who looked down on those serving in the military, and by proverbs such as, “Good iron isn’t used for nails; good men don’t become soldiers.”

After the chaotic period from the 1910s to the 1940s, when China was torn by civil war and foreign invasion, soldiers were seen as little more than bandits in uniform. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s armed forces—which would eventually become........

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