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Liu Zhen

Beijing has confirmed that a 23-year-old paratrooper died in a training accident in northwestern China, a revelation that follows recent reports of several accidents and deaths in its military.
State media said on Sunday that Xia Shiyuan, of Huaiyuan county in Anhui province, was involved in an incident shortly after leaving an airborne aircraft during a scheduled training exercise in Golmud, Qinghai province, on the morning of May 27.
Xinhua said Xia fell to the ground and was taken to hospital, where he died at 12.32pm.
In June, Xia – who was born in 2002 and joined the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in 2021 – was designated a martyr and posthumously awarded a third-class merit citation, according to a statement by Huaiyuan county authorities.
His ashes were returned to his hometown on August 8 and he was buried on Monday at Huaiyuan Martyrs’ Cemetery, where local authorities received him with full honours, local media said.




Xia’s death was one of two parachute-related incidents on consecutive days that were recently made public by the PLA.
The official PLA Daily last month said air force officer Wang Rui rescued an unconscious colleague during a separate parachute training exercise on May 28 after their parachutes became entangled in mid-air. Wang was awarded a third-class merit for his action.
The PLA has not publicly revealed the cause of either incident.
As China pushes to modernise its armed forces, it has intensified training in new tactics and equipment to ensure its troops can adapt to the demands of modern warfare.
When President Xi Jinping inspected the Airborne Corps in 2024, he urged them to “strengthen basic training and conduct intensive practices in difficult and key areas, while carrying out comprehensive, integrated and scenario-based exercises under complex and challenging conditions”.
The recent incident reports come amid a series of disclosures about military accidents and fatalities, after such incidents have traditionally had limited or much delayed public acknowledgement in China.
Last month, local media said two pilots, including a high-ranking tactical commander, were killed during frontline flight training exercises in June.
One was 38-year-old Fang Ming, a senior colonel who served as a tactical commander under the PLA Southern Theatre Command Naval Aviation unit, and the other was Shi Shaoyong, 25, a first lieutenant also from the Southern Theatre Command Navy.
They both died on June 10 and were recognised as martyrs, according to public records. It is not clear whether they died on the same aircraft or the same mission.


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Death of 23-year-old was one of two parachute-related incidents in consecutive months recently made public by the PLA


Death of 23-year-old was one of two parachute-related incidents in consecutive months recently made public by the PLA.


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Chinese paratrooper killed in Qinghai exercise as Beijing acknowledges casualties

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Death of 23-year-old was one of two parachute-related incidents in consecutive months recently made public by the PLA

Death of 23-year-old was one of two parachute-related incidents in consecutive months recently made public by the PLA