BEIJING: Two female Gen Z snipers in China have drawn attention on the training ground, defying gender stereotypes with their marksmanship and grit.
Liu Jiangtao, 26, from Chongqing in southwestern China, serves as a sniper in a mobile unit of the Sichuan corps of the People’s Armed Police (PAP).
She began as a scout, but later broke the women’s record in a sniper selection test, firing three rounds through a single hole on a coin-sized target hundreds of metres away.
Her rise, however, was met with scepticism.
Critics doubted her slight frame could handle the QBU-10, a 1.4-metre-long sniper rifle designed to strike high-value targets including armoured vehicles, helicopters and fortifications.
To prove them wrong, Liu endured punishing drills, sprinting more than 200m on mountain trails with 26kg of gear before engaging targets 600 to 800m away.
The rifle’s recoil repeatedly bruised her collarbone and at times knocked her off balance.
But Liu pressed on, spending hours prone on the training ground with a rifle weighing more than 10kg, holding perfectly still under the blazing sun and through mosquito bites.
“The only way to break prejudice is to let your ability speak for itself,” she told the mainland media.
Liu’s sweet appearance, love of dancing and upbeat personality have earned her the nickname “Sniper Sweetheart” among her comrades.
But she rejects the idea that military life is a male preserve.
“The barracks have never been a stage reserved for men, and women were never meant to play supporting roles,” she said.
Another stand-out sniper, Shen Mengke, has since traded the title of “Gun Queen” for a place in law school.
The 26-year-old from Zhejiang province in eastern China enlisted in 2018 and was initially assigned to an army communications unit.
She later volunteered for sniper training, where, despite being the shortest and lightest member of the squad at under 45kg, she quickly made an impression.
Shen pushed herself to the same physical standards as male recruits, training longer and harder in drills designed to test endurance and control.
In one exercise, balancing an empty shell casing on the barrel of her rifle, others trained for half an hour; Shen kept going for a full hour.
“The first thing I had to do when I came here to train was forget my gender. If male soldiers can do it, so can I,” she told the media.
Her efforts paid off. In one assessment, Shen, the only woman in the group, beat 79 male soldiers to finish first and earn the title of “Gun Queen”.
After years in the military, she left to pursue her academic ambitions. According to Zhejiang Daily, Shen was admitted to the law school at Zhejiang University of Technology for postgraduate study in 2024.
Their stories have resonated widely on mainland social media.
One online user said: “It is especially hard for a girl to become a sniper, but women are best at making the impossible possible.” - South China Morning Post
