Commentary On Jan. 1, China’s first Veterans Protection Law came into effect, 72 years after the Communist Party seized power in the country. But can the current plight of Chinese veterans be reversed by this law? The number of retired military personnel has reached 57 million in China as of 2018, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs. The number increases at a rate of hundreds of thousands per year. Let’s take a look at a scene in Qingdao, Shandong Province on the same day the new law was passed. Gao Hongyi, a 76-year-old veteran, spoke with Chinese media and complained about not receiving his benefits despite serving in the military when he was 18 years old. In 2017, Gao was sentenced to two years in prison for “disturbing social order” by a local court for participating in a protest in central Beijing. Military veterans demanded unpaid retirement benefits at …