Chinese Soldiers Play Pass the Grenade?
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JupiterImages/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — The Chinese military inspires wonder and fear in some quarters – particularly in this day and age when China and the United States engage in a near-daily mutual bashing over issues ranging from trade and currency policy to Taiwan and human rights.
Today, though, the Chinese military is inspiring…well, a lot of head-scratching. What is it we’re watching here? Is it “military training”? A bizarre form of Russian Roulette? A really dangerous form of “Hot Potato”?
This strange, minute-long piece of videotape purports to show a People’s Liberation Army training exercise. A half-dozen soldiers toss a live explosive, one to the other, in a small circle.
Then, not a moment too soon, they toss the grenade into what looks like a sand pit at the circle’s center, and take a kind of synchronized leap away from the pit. Synchronized grenade-diving. The grenade explodes, with six Chinese soldiers safely on their stomachs. And then it’s time to try again.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio