Trying To Rout Out Corruption In The Chinese Military

ESSENTIAL BACKING: President Xi Jinping inspecting an honor guard in September. The armed forces are integral to his “China dream,” a rejuvenated nation that is both peace-loving and militarily powerful. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

David Tweed, Bloomberg: What's Wrong With China's Army?

(Bloomberg) --In the “century of humiliation” that President Xi Jinping often evokes for his goal of turning China into a great power, one particular episode resonates: The defeat of China’s navy by Japan in 1894.

The Battle of Yalu in the Yellow Sea was a mortifying defeat in the first Sino-Japanese war, a conflict that China’s leaders assumed they would win against a smaller, if recently modernized opponent.

China had better, newer guns. But its navy was furnished with shells that were either filled with cement or porcelain, or were simply the wrong caliber, S.C.M. Paine writes in “The Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895: Perceptions, Power, and Primacy.” To blame? Ordnance officials on the take.

Now, Xi is seeking to transform the military into a modern outfit that can “fight and win wars,” acknowledging the effect of corruption on the People’s Liberation Army -- the world’s largest ground force -- alongside decades of patchy training and tolerance of underperformers. At an annual meeting of lawmakers this month, he said stamping out graft would make for better troops.

NWU Editor: A sobering assessment of the Chinese military. A must read.