Special operations soldiers assigned to the Thunder Commando of the PLA Air Force airborne troops line up to board the aircraft during a training exercise in mid-summer, 2022. More highly educated students are attracted to the army due to the increasing focus of the People's Liberation Army PLA on the development of intelligence, information and skills, as well as the growth of the Chinese military's recruitment for the second half of the year. After the reckless visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the island, the recruitment coincided with the recent crisis over the Taiwan Straits, and has been followed by a trend on Monday by Chinese netizens who pledged to contribute to the national reunification. According to a report from the China Central Television on Sunday, the favorable conditions for recruitment include relaxing the age limit for postgraduate students from 24 to 26 years old, and priority would be given to college students in science and technology schools and those with skills necessary to fight in a war. People with skills that are necessary to fight in a war are those skilled in internet, communication and engineering, surveying and drone operations, and the need to increase the capabilities of the PLA soldiers in real combat, observers said. Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times on Monday that these favorable conditions this year come along with the Chinese army's accelerated integrated development of mechanization, informatization and intelligentization. As many postgraduate students in China had reached 24 years old when they left school, the relaxation of age restrictions would help expand the scope of the people available for the PLA, according to Song. As the PLA is working toward a skill-intensive army, technical experts are needed most to learn to operate advanced and hi-tech weapons in the army, Song said, noting that enrollment of more technical staff would help maintain the combat effectiveness of the army. The PLA also needs people in other fields, such as those majoring in management, as scientific management methods would also promote combat effectiveness, Song noted. This year, the favorable conditions have attracted more highly educated applicants. More than 110,000 people have applied to join the army in the second half of this year in East China's Zhejiang Province, of which 50,000 were college students and another 27,000 were college graduates, according to the CCTV report. More than 8,000 local people applied to join the army in the second half of this year, and college graduates accounted for more than 50 percent of the total, according to Suzhou, East China's Jiangsu Province. 90 percent of the 3,000 applicants in Qingdao province in East China's Shandong Province are college graduates, according to media reports. The Chinese netizens expressed their enthusiasm to join the army on Monday. As of Monday afternoon, there had been nearly 100 million views of related hashtags on Sina Weibo. Can they relax the age restriction to 36? A user of Weibo said so. I will apply to join the army after I become a postgraduate student and learn more technologies to serve the country, said another. Yu Qi, an applicant from Zhejiang, told CCTV that the recent situation in the Taiwan Straits affects the heart of every Chinese national, and makes us understand that it needs strength to safeguard national security. I am willing to serve the country and let the name of the PLA soldier be the honor of my life, Yu said.