They are today's members of the People's Liberation Army. Before deciding to serve their duty in the army, many of these young people were government staffers, white-collar or blue-collar workers or private businessmen.

They are also members of "one-child" generation born in the late 1970s and '80s when China adopted a family planning policy, encouraging couples to have only one child.

Such children are usually known as "Little Emperors" and critics describe them as the real "dictators" in families.

According to Xinhua News Agency, for a long time many people, especially senior officers, worried about whether the "little dictators" could become qualified servicemen, fearing they would not be able to adapt to strict military discipline.

Their worries were unnecessary, Xinhua said.

"In fact, the only-child military recruits have breathed new air into the army," said Major General Li Heng, commander of the provincial PLA area command in the northeast province of Heilongjiang Province.

Li said that the quality of the armed forces as a whole vastly improved with the arrival of the "emperors."

Many of them have become expert technicians because of their knowledge of computers and the Internet, he said.

In recent years, the "one-child" generation has accounted for 90 percent of military recruits from big cities and 70 percent from smaller cities or rich rural areas.

Major Wang Xian said one-third of his battalion comes from one-child families.

Currently, most parents are educated and have a good awareness of the importance of national defense, Xinhua said.

More than 80 percent of the one-child families interviewed are willing to send their children to the army.

The PLA has 2.5 million officers and men, whose representatives made up 9 percent of the Ninth National People's Congress.

(eastday.com March 13, 2002)