Xi encourages university students to contribute to strong army

BEIJING - President Xi Jinping has encouraged eight students from Nankai University, who joined the army this year, to help the country achieve its goal of building a strong army.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks in a letter, which he wrote Saturday and was made public Monday, replying to the eight students.

"I am gratified by your aspiration and passion after hearing that you temporarily leave campus and throw yourselves into military camps, with the ideal of serving the country," Xi wrote. "There were many literary men with ideals and integrity who renounced the pen for the sword in history, and a number of Nankai University students rushed to the battlefield to shed blood or devote their lives during the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression."

The president said that the eight students had set a great example to young Chinese. He told them to cherish the opportunity serving in the army and commit themselves to the country's goal of building a strong army.

The students, including offsprings of veterans who fought during the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea (1950-53) and children of anti-terrorism heroes in Xinjiang, recently wrote a letter to Xi before heading to military camps.