China hikes allowance for war veterans to boost morale of soldiers

BEIJING: China has raised the annual allowance for disabled soldiers, most of whom were injured during wars with India, Vietnam and South Korea, by 15% as it celebrates the 63anniversary of its founding as a republic.
This is among the other morale boosting measures taken at a time of serious altercations with Vietnam, Philippines and Japan. China recently sent troops to Sansha islands in South China Sea, which Vietnam claims as its own.
Chinese ships are patrolling the waters around the Japan-controlled island of Diaoyu because Beijing says it is part of Chinese territory.
A China-based NGO has launched a massive project to bring back remains of soldiers who died in the war of resistance against Japanese aggression (1937-45 ).
The NGO, Shenzhen Longyue Charity Foundation, has already begun identifying tombs of Chinese soldiers in Myanmar and collecting DNA evidence.
China fought wars with South Korea in 1953, India in 1962 and Vietnam for 16 years until 1975. By all accounts, soldiers disabled during these wars would be more than 67 years old. Besides, some soldiers may have suffered disabilities for other reasons like training accidents . Beijing did not disclose the number of disabled soldiers who will benefit from the move. It also said the increase will be of 5,000 yuan at the highest level, and the total expenditure would be 880 million yuan.