'Steel Knife Team' at cutting edge of service

Long Kanghua: reluctant recruit

When Long Kanghua graduated from high school, his father signed him up for the Yunnan People's Armed Police Force without telling him.

"Becoming a PAP officer was my father's dream, not mine. I couldn't accept the fact that I was going into the force. My dad really liked the idea of signing me up without informing me first－maybe because he thought I was naive and too playful," Long said.

At the time, Long was boarding at a high school in Pu'er city, Yunnan, and his father was working as an architect in the Xishuangbanna Dai autonomous prefecture about two hours' drive away. As a result, they rarely communicated.

Long spent most of his time at school playing basketball, chatting and hanging out with friends.

After he joined the PAP in 2018, he realized how ignorant he had been about his family and his career prospects.

"I have received a lot of training that has improved my endurance levels and taught me to be independent," the 20-year-old said.

"I have also learned the proper way to interact with people. More important, I started to care about my family more and our ties became closer. I can only get access to phones at certain hours, but whenever I can get a phone I have video chats with my parents about their lives at home and mine in the force."

His parents have asked to visit him at the camp several times, but he has always refused.

"I don't want my parents to see my camp, which is full of sand and dust, or my sleeping quarters－a tent like a steaming box with a temperature of about 45 C during the day. My mother cares about me a lot. She even cried about a small nick on my hand," Long said.

The heat means it's hard to fall asleep at night, so the officers need to keep a fan blowing and cover their bodies with wet towels.

"It is not a big deal to me because I understand that if I experience more hardships at a young age my future life will be easier," Long said.