China’s army gets a fashion upgrade
BEIJING: Troops of the People’s Liberation Army are to become chic symbols of national pride and sophistication - so says the commander who oversaw the latest uniform upgrade. Liao Xilong, director of the Chinese military’s logistics department, explained in loving detail the virtues of the new uniforms, which went on display in Hong Kong over the weekend. “A uniform represents the image of the military and is a country’s calling card,” Liao told the official Xinhua news agency, complaining that the previous designs “lacked colour coordination”. “This adjustment of our military’s uniforms gave more attention to functionality and a human touch, and the stress has been on fullness of the range, colour coordination, pleasant design and clear insignia.” The full rejig of troops’ clothes by 2009 will not be cheap - costing about 6 billion yuan ($787 million) for the PLA force of 2.3 million, Xinhua reported on Monday. Photos of the new outfits on news Web sites showed soldiers, sailors and pilots in tight-fitting jackets and - in ceremonial versions - in riding breeches with leather boots.
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