March 31, 2014

The Chinese Military-Disco Complex: Update

I recently mused about the Chinese army's tendency to see itself less as the pointy end of the spear and more in terms of: "It's not a job, it's a racket." It's cleaned itself up somewhat since the 1990s, but without any particular wars that need fighting, the urge to relapse is always there.

From the NYT today:
Chinese General Charged in Graft Inquiry 
By JONATHAN ANSFIELD MARCH 31, 2014

BEIJING — ... On Monday, prosecutors formally charged General Gu with bribery, embezzlement, misuse of state funds and abuse of power, the outcome of a far-reaching inquiry under President Xi Jinping that could foreshadow unprecedented criminal prosecutions of other high-ranking military figures. ...
An internal inquiry accused him of presiding over a vast land development racket that hoarded kickbacks, bought promotions and enabled him and his family to amass dozens of expensive residences, including places where investigators found stockpiles of high-end liquor, gold bullion and cash, according to people briefed on the investigation. 
Even as President Xi presses a sweeping campaign against graft within the Communist Party, he has seized on the case against General Gu to pursue a parallel drive to clean up the 2.3 million-member armed forces.... Mr. Xi’s goal, they said, is to transform a service larded with pet projects and patronage networks into a leaner fighting force more adept at projecting power abroad and buttressing party rule at home — and to strengthen his own authority. ...
Mr. Xi, unlike his immediate predecessors, took over the military and the party at the same time — in November 2012 — and brought strong P.L.A. ties. After university, he served as an aide to a top military official. His father was a revolutionary guerrilla commander. His wife is a singer in the P.L.A.'s song-and-dance troupe.

The President of China's wife used to entertain the troops? Ann-Margaret style? Or was she more hands-on?
Mr. Xi has ordered a stream of antigraft measures, audits and criticism sessions; enlarged drills to upgrade “battle readiness”; and advanced contentious plans to restructure a military bureaucracy criticized as bloated and outmoded. Those plans are expected to overhaul the command structure, streamline the army’s procurement practices and significantly downsize nonmilitary divisions such as the performance troupes.

Is "performance troupe" (such as the one the First Lady worked in) perhaps a euphemism? Does the President of China have some deep-seated personal issues involving the military?
Corruption has bedeviled the P.L.A. since the market reforms of the 1980s, when it was permitted to venture into industry and earn the funds to modernize its arsenal and sustain its troops. Widespread smuggling, graft and profiteering ensued. It took years of debate for the party in 1998 to order the military to divest from business. But as Beijing increased military spending, officers tapped their own resources for profit.
The P.L.A. retains extensive land holdings, which have ballooned in value in line with property prices across the country, and real estate transactions are considered its biggest source of corruption.

The major danger is that the Chinese government will try to clean up the Army by giving it a war to fight. On the very, very macro scale, war is the enemy of corruption and inequality. Of course, war is also war.

America's Founding Father's didn't think much of standing armies. You can see why.
 

19 comments:

josh said...

General Gu? "Call for General Gu--from the president!" "Gu?Hu." "Who? HU?"Yes HU!" "Yessir this Gu!" "Tell me Gu,how is Major How?" "Who? How?" "Yes HOW!" "Dont you mean Ho?" "No!No HO! How!" "Who?How?" "Yes,How!" (silence) "Gu?" "Hu?" "Gu! How is How!?" "This Gu! Hu?" "Oh for Godsake! Never mind!How is your sister?" "Sister? Sue?" "Who?" "Sue!" "Sue?" "Sue." "Thouight sister name Lu?" "Lu secretary. Quit. Lu through." "Lu? Through?" "Who?" "LU!!" etc etc. It seems the Chinese military is taking lessons from the Israeli army:Gather while ye may! Have you talked about the Huawei phone--the CEO had a career as a high tech big shot in the Peoples Army and they say every single bit of this excellent phone has been stolen from the white man.It may be the next Obama phone!

Anonymous said...

It sounds like you're coming around to my idea of a semi-official semi-illicit entertainment industry, built to satisfy the licentious needs of the young men who wear the uniform of a country with a horrible sex ratio imbalance, owing to four decades of the 1-Child policy in tandem with sex-selective abortion.

Shawn the Mouse of the Blogosphere said...

Steve you can delete this comment after you read it if you want (I wont care) but you may want to write about the Sheldon Primary:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/the-sheldon-primary-is-one-reason-why-americans-distrust-the-political-system/2014/03/28/765fbfdc-b67e-11e3-a7c6-70cf2db17781_story.html

Uncle Peregrine said...

Shawn's Sheldon comment is hardly off topic here. Why are the Chinese letting an American make billions off Macao casinos unless they are using him to influence our political process?

el supremo said...

The Chinese army song and dance troops are definitely not a euphemism - the Chinese army regularly stages variety shows combining patriotic songs, tacky CGI and video montages on patriotic themes, and dance troops of enlisted soldiers.

Video of a typical recent performance is at this link - fun to see a look at the style of the official Chinese military culture - quite different from ours!

http://military.cntv.cn/2014/02/22/VIDE1393064280832333.shtml

Naturally any organization which brings attractive singers into contact with military officers probably results in some of them becoming wives/mistresses, but that's not really the main purpose of the quite large PLA song and dance establishment.

Duke of Qin said...

Steve, the PLA's song and dance troupe origins and duties are more pedestrian and less salacious than you imagine.

It is similar to America's AFE and USO and was founded by the Communist Party primarily as a means to provide entertainment with proper socialist values to supplement the political education from commissars. The organization with it's roots in the 1950's does not recruit public talent like the US does but rather maintains its own arts academies by which it cultivates its own talent. Back when China was more enthusiastic about actually practicing communism, decadent bourgeois entertainment was verboten, but the entertainers in the arts and dance troupe were naturally politically acceptable and really the only game in town so star performers had become famous among the general population at large.

With the social liberalization following economic liberalization, they lost their natural monopoly which is why the majority of the well known entertainers are already in their 60's and are mostly popular with a similarly greying demographic.

Though the entertainment industry is now privatized, a legacy of the above and something most people are not aware of is that the Chinese entertainment industry recruitment is somewhat different than in the US. Rather than some fresh struggling actor or musician moving to LA to make their name, almost all of China's entertainers are actually trained and recruited through performing arts schools both civilian and military.

Reg Cæsar said...

Tangentially on-topic, from Friday's China Daily:

A growing number of Chinese men are looking to forge friendships with foreign women, and buck the cultural trend of "marrying up", as Zhang Yuchen reports...

…Hu Yiqiang is hoping to buck the trend. He has set his heart on finding a non-Chinese wife or partner, mainly because he is frustrated at the demands made by Chinese women - a big house, a luxury car and a good job are the usual requirements cited by Chinese dates, Hu said, but that's not what he wants.

Orthodox said...

There is an idiom in Chinese called “吃空饷” which means to embezzle by adding fake employees. There are cases today where people have a government job they never show up to, and the papers often make use of this idiom.

The idiom may be a couple thousand years old, or more. It originates from generals inflating the number of soldiers under their command to obtain more food and supplies, which could then be sold for a profit.

Whiskey said...

Steve thus anti graft stuff is aimed ar getting rid of the allies of Bo Xilai. Who had many military allies

Anonymous said...

The President of China's wife used to entertain the troops? Ann-Margaret style? Or was she more hands-on?

Dude, do you think it is acceptable to imply the same of the First Man/Lady of the US?

Anonymous said...

If these PLA business types are rich enough, can they just buy a US EB-5 Visa to get into the US?

"Rich Chinese overwhelm U.S. visa program",Sophia Ya, March 25, 2014, Hong Kong, CNN.

Anonymous said...

If I were the Vietnamese I would be worried, because the Chinese have 1,000 year old unfinished business there, not to mention the little problem in 1979.

Anonymous said...

> Dude, do you think it is acceptable to imply the same of the First Man/Lady of the US?

You will see comments about purported homosexuality of Obama and Hilary Clinton often enough here and elsewhere on the American blogosphere. Americans have different values and standards than us, the rest of world.

Anonymous said...

It's not realistic to imply that Michelle Obama would be entertaining to American troops in any way at all

Anonymous said...

"It sounds like you're coming around to my idea of a semi-official semi-illicit entertainment industry, built to satisfy the licentious needs of the young men who wear the uniform of a country with a horrible sex ratio imbalance, owing to four decades of the 1-Child policy in tandem with sex-selective abortion."

Easily solved: Red Army becomes Pink Army - no asky, no telly.

Gilbert P

manton said...

The Romans didn't have a standing army either, until very late in the day. In fact, the "professionalization" of the army by Marius in the 1st century BC is cited by Augustine, Machiavelli and Montesquieu as a key factor in the corruption of Rome.

Anonymous said...

It's not realistic to imply that Michelle Obama would be entertaining to American troops in any way at all

Somebody understood!

Reg Cæsar said...

Anonymous/anethnic said:
You will see comments about purported homosexuality of Obama and Hilary Clinton often enough here and elsewhere on the American blogosphere. Americans have different values and standards than us, the rest of world.


Can't help but wonder if this comment came from Holland or Uganda. "The rest of the world" has a diversity of views

Anonymous said...

Does the PLA put on drag shows like our armed forces in Okinawa?
Not that there's any thing peculiar about that...