This Day, That Year

Item from April 13, 1985, in China Daily: The People's Liberation Army air force is teaching its flying officers to read, write and speak English in a bid to speed up its modernization drive...as English is the language used internationally by air traffic controllers.

Meanwhile, the air force is assigning an increasing number of college graduates to its ground-to-air missile units, as part of the modernization ... The ground-to-air missile unit - described by Marshal He Long in the 1960s as "seedling" - has now grown into a major branch of the air force and has sophisticated equipment and well-educated personnel, according to an air force spokesman.

The People's Liberation Army air force is pushing ahead to train high school students as pilot candidates to attract young talent to accelerate its modernization.