Online military enthusiasts keep TV programs honest

Directors of military-based TV shows cannot be too careful about plots and props. That's because an army of online military aficionados is ready to correct their every mistake.

The enthusiasts fired a warning shot across the bows when they confronted the broadcaster of Bloody Battle, the Vast Sky, a TV series about the Chinese air-force. They were able to prove that Chinese aircraft in the 1930s were not equipped with wireless communications, as claimed in the program, and also that the pilots were not as poorly disciplined as suggested. The director of the show, Gao Xixi, countered that his team had spent almost two years researching historical data and military affairs.

Zhang Junwei, a retired soldier in Wenling, Zhejiang province, is addicted to making military models. During the past two years, he had made more than 50. Provided to China Daily

A wider perspective

"Netizens with expertise can correct faults that could mislead the audience, or at least they can provide a wider perspective to help people think about these things more accurately," said Chen Qing, a space industry engineer and aviation graduate.

Leading military forums in China, such as Tiexue, or Iron Blood, established in 2001, have more than 15 million daily page views. On micro-blogging platforms, the number of specialist military micro-groups has mushroomed during the past two or three years.

As a student, Chen, 28, was a regular visitor to a number of Bulletin Board Systems about aircraft, and online military history forums. He admitted that he occasionally spoke out when he read comments that were inaccurate or simply extreme.

"Highly specialized content and professional online discussions benefited my studies, but some netizens simply wanted to let off steam by being controversial - this is not good," he said.

The sometimes irrational posts irritated some military experts who participated in the discussions, said Xiao Dong, 21, who administers a micro-group.

"Actually it is easy to expose the fallacy of some radical opinions through analysis and reasoning. But to do that, you have to remain rational, " he said.

Rational or not, Jin Huaicun, a 25-year-old military enthusiast, said he just can't stop visiting online military sites. He believed that they allow him to fulfill his "dream of fighting or sacrificing my life as a soldier".

"I feel excited by online presentations of China's growing military strength, and I'm especially curious about the various discussions about issues where official information is scarce," he said.

Security concerns

However, there are concerns that some aficionados are unconsciously leaking military secrets and harming national security. This year, the government will accelerate cyber regulations to prevent the dissemination of inaccurate information.

The Internet Society of China released a written proposal on April 10 calling on Internet companies and websites to strengthen regulation to prevent the spread of online rumors.

In response, major websites have expressed their resolution to reduce online rumors, especially on micro-blogging platforms.

Li Muyuan, founder and administrator of a micro-group about Chinese history and military, has occasionally deleted blogs unrelated to the group's core focus.

In the belief that a historical mindset would help people to think about issues in a more thoughtful and educated way, Li established the group in 2010. He now devotes his "total enthusiasm" to creating a good communications platform for micro-bloggers registered with the group. The micro-group has around 34,000 followers who have published a combined total of 83,000 blogs, so far.

For Li, the process should be interactive: "Administrators should not be bystanders, they should also participate in the discussions. I try to make voluble bloggers feel at home here, and I also try to encourage those who prefer to be silent to actively join in the discussions," he said.