I find it telling that when correcting "facts" on a funny picture you are more concerned with telling us who is not chinese then you are with that not chinese military but police. <object width="420" height="315"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZOXG8wtxx_w?version=3&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZOXG8wtxx_w?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="420" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>
Whose propaganda purpose would it serve? Certainly it doesn't make the PLA look good. Are you suggesting that those are fake Chinese soldiers?
I think it was staged for the press with the CO telling those troops to show how brave PRC soldiers are by passing around a live explosives. He probably told them to make it look very dramatic by leaping in the air. One of the soldiers just botched it by dropping the dummy explosives ahead of time.
At first view, it's funny and mind-bungling too. But chuckle aside, after hearing narratives, and thinking over the Chinese war-time literature/movie I've read/watched, it's actually an effective training to overcome fear and build trust. One example, when in close range battle, if you throw a grenade too early, you end up blowing yourself up when the other side have time to throw it back.
check this one out (more bad-ass) <iframe width="500" height="375" src="http://www.tudou.com/v/R49sHCTXsTI/&resourceId=0_04_02_99/v.swf" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
at first, i thought this is supposed to be a funny video, holy s it is footage from cctv news. icommentary says this is to train solider psychological toughness ... tmac could use it to rocketj ... 成绩是汗不是汉人,但是毛主席说他是中国人, case closed.