Hayfever-sufferers might find relief by pulling on a T-shirt, and so on.The loudest buzz now surrounds polylactic acid (PLA) fibres and, in particular, one brand-named Ingeo.
The Pentagon concedes that it is not sure the PLA was behind such attacks, but argues that "authoritative" analysts in the PLA see cyber-warfare as important.The new arsenalWhat does this amount to?
Even so, three years later, when he set about modernising China, he put the PLA last in the queue, behind farming, industry and science.
So, apart from producing things that the PLA itself needed, such as guns, the soldiers diversified and began running all sorts of other businesses.
Even today plenty of PLA myth-making is wrapped up in its past eagerness to grow its own food and weave its own cloth.When the late Deng Xiaoping put economic development above all else two decades ago, it was but a small step from self-sufficiency to military entrepreneurialism.
The People's Liberation Army PLAA) enjoys the same rank as China's State Council, or cabinet, meaning the executive branch of the government can issue no orders to the PLA.
And it is reported to have bought two Sovremenny class guided missile destroyers, which have far greater range than the most modern of China's surface ships.But when it comes to making China's mark in East Asia, what the PLA wants most is an aircraft carrier.
Yet as the PLA comes to rely more on its own information networks it will no longer enjoy an asymmetric advantage.
Many became the seeds of rampant corruption.In 1998 President Jiang Zemin called a halt to most PLA commerce, but the armed forces never rid themselves of graft.
The ill-defined quality of "political reliability" will remain a crucial factor in gaining promotion one wide open to abuse.It will be tougher still to make the PLA better at fighting.
