HK lifestyle 'off-limits to China army'

HONG KONG: China's secretive troops stationed in Hong Kong face a slew of restrictions to prevent them from indulging in the city's "capitalist lifestyle", a report said Wednesday, in a rare glimpse of their military life.

The People's Liberation Army (PLA) took over defence duties in Hong Kong after Britain handed the southern Chinese city over in 1997, with operations long-shrouded in secrecy.

But after a rare visit granted to the South China Morning Post recently, the paper said the 6,000 troops led a life that was "cut off almost completely from a city that they train so rigorously to defend".

The soldiers, sailors and airmen are strictly confined to their 18 barracks across the semi-autonomous city, and have to spend even their weekly day off in their dormitories, prevented from engaging with the Hong Kong public. AFP