Online Dating & Chinese Soldiers: Looking for Trouble as Much as Love
Aug 28, 2010 Online Dating News
China is an oppressive government. One need not think beyond Tibet and Tiananmen Square for proof. While China’s leadership is not about liberation, the leadership of the Chinese Military, the People’s Liberation Army was not wrong in June 2010 for imposing internet bans on its soldiers.
“Seeking marriage partners, jobs or making friends through the public media is not permitted,” the Chinese regulation clearly states. “Going online in local Internet cafes is not permitted. Opening websites, home pages, blogs and message forums on the Internet is not permitted.” For this blog, we’ll just focus on them not being allowed to use the internet to cruise online dating websites.
It’s easy to pick on China here on this issue. And many of the critics doing so are followers who seemed to consider the sexual needs of Chinese soldiers, but not their safety. There were really good reasons why online dating was given the boot for those who have made it through boot camp. For starters, it was done to protect military intelligence. But it could also save lives.
Yesterday, the owners of a Chinese restaurant here in Arizona, were talking to me about the conflict since they knew I wrote this online dating blog. They felt for the soldiers who are primarily lonely and horny young males. They believed online dating would help Chinese soldiers, and that they should be able to use it like millions of civilians do every day.
Taking Advantage is the Problem
Most civilians can feel compassion for the personal battles all soldiers go through emotionally and socially. They see the value in members of any military taking advantage of online dating services and websites. The problem is there are plenty of sneaky online predators lurking at their computers ready to take advantage of lonely and horny soldiers to get information and/or money from them. On the flip side, there are scammers posing as soldiers to take advantage of lonely and horny civilians, too.
Loose Lips Do Sink Ships
You don’t need a fortune cookie to tell you the old wartime mantra “Loose Lips Sink Ships” is still alive and well today. The internet was the foundation for the recent “Wikileaks” scandal revealing massive amounts of Top Secret classified information on U.S. Military operations in Afghanistan.
The U.S. Military has embraced social media from generals to privates to promote the public relations messages it wants to put out there. However, it has tried to be smart about protecting anything that could create a breach in security.
It’s also important to recognize there have already been Black Hat investigations with U.S. Military personnel showing soldiers chatted with phony online dating prospects sharing seemingly innocent things such as locations and even helicopter takeoff times.
The “Wikileaks” matter is highly unusual. It’s usually the tiny leaks of mundane military information that are the problem. People who know what they’re doing and know what they’re looking for are the ones who can piece together little nuggets of knowledge that compromise security of military units and strategic operations.
The Israeli Military has no-nonsense reputation that matches its proven power. Even the Israeli Army was known to be forced to scrap a raid on a West Bank village after one of its soldiers revealed the time and location of the operation on his Facebook page. Talk about stupid and dangerous.
Underpaid and undersexed soldiers for sitting ducks today for online predators. Military operatives and spies know this. The Chinese Military Leaders know it, too. Horny guys in uniform will say just anything if it helps them get out of their uniform with someone else. Civilian guys are no different.
Now the Chinese Military is going back to basics in recognizing sexual companionship can definitely help with morale in the rank and file. It is saying that matchmaking for soldiers can be safely conducted through introductions from families, friends, or their work units.
China is just the latest country to wrestle with the issue of Internet freedoms such as online dating for its military. It is attacking the problem the way soldiers have done it for centuries. So, eHarmony will have to wait for Chinese soldiers. Now if only there were a popular website that created harmony and matchmaking between nations. Then we wouldn’t need to spend all of our days, months, and years preparing to go to war.
Tags: Chinese soldiers, internet, matchmaking, online dating, U.S. soldiers, Wikileaks
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