What China wants in its PLA recruits: eloquence, artistic skills and appearance

After the much-talked about performance by the PLA's female fighters in the National Day parade (nothing says nationalism like women with knee-high boots and guns), the PLA has released new standards for its female PLA recruits that could read like requirements for the Miss Universe pageant.

Xinhua reports that “female candidates will be graded in terms of their eloquence, artistic skills and even their appearance by a panel of judges selected from both the military and civilian departments.”

The report goes on to say the goal of the new rules, which include lifting the maximum age of female recruits -- with a four year college degree -- from 22 to 24 years old, is to “attract more educated recruits” and provide a more transparent recruitment process. They forgot to add that it will also help to curb China's rate of unemployment for recent college graduates.

What’s going on? Our guess is that China realized that watching a cadre of beautiful women goose-stepping with guns is a much better PR stunt than anything Hu Jintao can pull off.