China to Air Force: No flying high on beer

Written by DJ Spiess

Thursday, 14 August 2008

The Chinese government has a long list of things you cannot do. No "flying high” for flyers is their latest decree.

No one is really sure why the state media made this announcement, but from this point forward the Chinese air force is not allowed to drink at lunch. Apparently this is a problem. Everyone remembers the US EP-3E surveillance plane which somehow caused a Chinese F-8 fighter to crash in 2001. Maybe this is why their fighter pilots have a history of bumping into US spy planes?

Maybe refraining from beer wil help them fly straighter (courtesy Wikipedia)

If you are caught drinking at lunch, Chinese pilots face demerits, demotions or losing their job. My guess is if you are a great pilot you get a demerit, if you’re an ok pilot you get a demotion, and if you are a poor pilot you’ll get a new job crushing rocks with Tibetan dissidents. There is no word about nooners, but we're assuming "afternoon delight" is still ok.

The state media noted this is the first time the air force formally required their pilots to not drink. It’s kinda weird they would note it was the first time. They were probably trying to stretch out the news, something I would never do…

This isn’t the first time the Chinese government demanded a group not drink on the job. Last January the Chinese government said Communist party officials and government workers (aren’t they all government workers?) cannot drink at lunch. The ban led to protests because restaurants took a major financial hit from the loss of sales. Expect a drop in the Chinese beer consumption statistics for the next year.

(Source: Reuters.UK )

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