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 were watching here? Is it military training? A bizarre form of Russian Roulette? A really dangerous form of Hot Potato?
What it most certainly is not is anything you want to try at home.
This strange, minute-long piece of videotape purports to show a Peoples 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 circles 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 its time to try again.
