Deficiency for the whole of PLA

vesicles & williamhou, Thanks for the translation.

I really feel China needs to change it's one child only policy. It is creating an un-natural imbalance between male and female in China.



When you have 120 hot-dogs and only 100 buns you got trouble..But that's not what this thread is about.

I understand the spoiled brat syndrome and over bearing parents. Spoiled brats were showing up in the USN a few years before I retired in '91. They are a pain in the butt.

Look at the PLA's performance in recent disaster rescue operations. The way they performed in those operations are a good indicator of their strength of character.

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True enough. But bullets don't fly during natural disasters.

Basically saying boot camp isn't doing its job.

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Humm?? Maybe PLA boot camp is not tough enough? I don't know.

zaky said:

Maby China shoud ease the one child policy. Eventualy shift to two child policy or somthing similar.

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Its being eased, with new generation newly weds, were they are allowed 2 if they can handle it. And also must be the only child in their sides of the family.

bd popeye said:

True enough. But bullets don't fly during natural disasters.

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I would have to disagree with you in this one. Although we are not seeing a lot of bullets flying, explosions and stuff like that, but there are still very good chance of the soldiers or rescuers dying in natural disasters as they try to rescue the trapped.

A good indicator is the 911 incidents in World Trade Center (US), when heroic firefighters went into the almost collapsed building in search for survivors and never made it out... Actually I believe this is also the case for Chinese soldiers when they try to help their fellow men in devastated terrains.

Most of the PLA army personnel are from rural areas which concentrate on farming.. I don't think they have problem taking hardship.

It might be different from Airforce or Navy.

Easing the one-child policy isn't going to help. Parents won't be anymore willing to let their children go just because there is an extra child. Furthermore, why would parents have an extra child just so their children could be sent to the front line?

The only solution I see is for China to invest heavily in unmanned combat vehicles with artificial intelligence.

I think all these thing about one child policy that was the main cause for deficiency in China's army are just crap. One child policy do have its own problem (social problem mainly) like aging population.

The main deficiency I can see and believe is that different elements of China's military functioned independently. It is the same problem with many military in the world. If only China could actually integrate different elements into one singular entity, it would be much more effective.

Another deficiency that China is facing now is the lack of aerial transport. Although in recent years they do induct a number of heavy transports into their air force, but seriously speaking, a military of the size of China having that few transports is a joke.

I call BS on this. This whole "only child is spoiled and good for nothing" idea has never, ever been supported by any kind of evidence, other than anecdotal.

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I have to agree. I think younger Chinese generation face some real challenges their parents never really have to face and most end up coping with it fairly well. Many of the kids born after the 80s and 90 face stiff competitions from elementary right up to university. After university, many these "spoiled only-children" will leave their home town and move to a new place, where they are total stranger. Finding jobs, fending for themselves, in this kind of setting, against thousands of applicants, it is really not that easy.

People who were born in the 50s and 60s will have jobs fallen onto their hands, even if they did not really try. The government will find something for you to do, and it is often "iron rice bowl", because no one will ever get fired, even you don't work hard at all.

People grow up in different settings develop different skill sets, but to say the younger generation's are not as capable, i think it is unfair.

I somehow doubt that 70% of PLA is from only child families, as the child per mother is hold steady at 1.7 for years and PLA (at least stereotypically) recruit most from countryside. Since in urban areas one child policy is very strictly enforced, the 0.7 has to come from somewhere.

Although, it's quite possible they are the only male children though. Since in the countryside, if the child is girl, the family do anything to get a boy. But if the first child is a boy, they usually stop, which more than anything is causing the gender imbalance right now. (the same thing happen in S. Korea where is no family planning policy, but costs cause families to limit their children)

This however, will be a problem when PLA would try to recruit from urban areas as they're clearly moving to right now. Also, if there is a risk of actual conflict, PLA might face recruitment challenges. The PLA has no problem filling quota now, because it is essentially two year employment to learn a trade, get connections and get discounted tickets for life, but if the risk of dying is high they might not join.

One other thing that bothers me: the way this PLA officer worded his comment, it feels as if he is advocating that China can only win wars if it is willing to suffer high casualties. This is a mentality that runs counter against all the modernization that the PLA has undertaken. It makes one wonder if the mentality of PLA officers have been able to keep up with the technological modernization.

I agree with solarz on his last comment. We probably will not have a major war the size of Korea between two large powers for a while (or at least in the foreseeable future). Reducing friendly casualties is one of the best indicators of an army's advancement in technology and tactics.