More than 300,000 service people from the Chinese military have lost their lives since the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, according to a new military exhibition in Beijing that marks the 80th anniversary of the establishment of the People's Liberation Army (PLA).
The exhibition reveals the casualties of the PRC armed forces for the first time, although it fails to elaborate on details of deaths from each war or non-combat activity.
According to PLA military history, the 1950-1953 Korean War was the conflict in which most lives were lost, with more than 140,000 deaths. The Ministry of Civil Affairs cites the death toll at around 170,000. The discrepancy is believed to lie in the ministry's inclusion of civilian casualties during the war.
During peace time, the Chinese armed forces were also mobilized to participate in relief efforts in the wake of natural disasters. Many soldiers lost their lives while building roads on perilous route from Sichuan Province into Tibet. Some military medical workers died from treating highly infectious victims of SARS in the pandemic threat from 2002 to 2003.
The PRC armed forces include the PLA and the People's Armed Police (PAP). The PAP was separated in 1982 from the PLA with the task of maintaining domestic social order.
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