On the Threat from China

Andrea Widburg at the American Thinker in an article entitled Is the Chinese Military a Potemkin Village? points in turn to a Red State article by Joe Cunningham entitled Is The Chinese Military Crumbling Under Xi? Seems Like It... Gentle readers are encouraged to read both articles. But keep in mind that the Chinese military is still a major force. Quantity has a quality all its own, and the Chinese have quantity. According to Cunningham:

The Chinese President is calling for “deep reflection” among his military forces as he renews his focus on corruption, which has plagued China in recent months. His call comes after what the Wall Street Journal describes as a "purge that has brought down more than a dozen senior generals and defense-industry executives."

This sounds an awful lot like the saying that "The beatings will continue until morale improves." Apparently when the Chinese tried to test fire a missile, they discovered that the missile was filled with water rather than fuel, and the money for the fuel had been pocketed by officials.

This is a bad look for China. Back to Widburg:

I agree with Cunningham that Xi’s concerns reflect a real issue rather than being a communist chief’s periodic reminder to the military about who’s in charge and the fate that can befall those who run afoul of him. No doubt they all know that, in 2016, Kim Jong-un executed two of his senior officials using anti-aircraft guns. Despots don’t like being made to look bad.

Here are my three reasons for believing Xi isn’t just posturing but is actually worried:

1. China’s former one-child policy, which resulted in a huge surplus of males, also resulted in a surplus of weak men coddled by their families. These children, who came to be known as “little emperors,” are risk-averse and non-competitive, and the young men are neurotic.

In other words, even though China still recognizes the sex binary, it has its own version of the soy-boy personality in its society, and that’s going to affect its military.

2. Communism breeds corruption. As we see in America’s institutions—everything from the government to our own military to academia—merit is no longer a factor in advancement. Instead, ideological correctness is the primary consideration in leftist systems. However, a system dominated by the ideologically pure rather than the competent inevitably collapses under its own weight. The mission gives way to in-fighting and profiteering.

What’s happening to the Chinese military now is a foretaste of the imminent collapse of our own institutions unless they’re put back on a merit track.

3. Communism breeds substandard quality. When merit has no reward, people do substandard work. We see that in every product that comes out of China. The artisans, craftsmen, and small farmers who once labored to produce the best for their own pleasure and economic benefit have been wiped out in a country that’s one giant factory assembly line. You do enough to get by and not one iota more. Chinese equipment looks great, but it’s still built in Chinese factories.

Again, we’re seeing this across America. There is no room for an individual’s pride in his work when he is a widget in a state-focused rather than an individual-focused system.

While I agree with Widburg that Communist dictatorships encourage a number of negative character traits including fear, coercion, corruption and so forth, Capitalism untied to morals breeds greed, and the Chinese have taken full advantage of our CEOs' greed and that of our politicians. We would have to beg China for the parts to maintain our military. This is not sustainable. Years ago when the Army switched from the Dress Cap to black berets as covers, the Army ordered the new berets from China. China may not be in good shape, but then neither are we.