*BEIJING: *
Chinese border troops, stationed in plateau areas, were recently equippedwith ready-to-assemble thermal shelters, a guarantee they could get throughthe chilly winter and support the military’s combat readiness in extremeweather.
The use of thermal shelters comes amid the ongoing border tension betweenChina and India, with experts saying it can provide the Chinese militarywith reliable combat-readiness support in a long-term standoff during theharsh winter, *Global Times*reported on Thursday.
Developed by the Army Engineering University of the Chinese People’sLiberation Army (PLA), the shelters – composed of dormitories, canteens,washing rooms, toilets, warehouses, microgrids and heating equipment – canfunction properly in temperatures as low as -55°C and at an altitude of5,500 metres.
The self-powered thermal insulation houses have already been used inoutposts in plateau and alpine areas in the past two years, and bordertroops on the plateau are now officially equipped with them.
The prolonged standoff in the Chinese-Indian border region is a battle ofendurance, logistical support and morale of soldiers, as tensions haveshown no signs of easing, said Qian Feng, director of the researchdepartment at the National Strategy Institute of Tsinghua University inBeijing.
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“This announcement of the use of the shelters will greatly raise the moraleof PLA soldiers in the border regions and boost their resolution in thestandoff,” Qian said.
“The deployment of those shelters shows preparation for an all-roundmilitary struggle amid the escalating tensions on the China-India border,”Song Zhongping, a military expert and commentator, said.
The equipment is flexible in its application and can be assembled accordingto the scale of the troops.
