OT-China 2015 V-Day Parade

[Sublime]

The difference is at the turn of the 20th century the average American didnt see the US as the rising world superpower. we were isolationist and could give a toss what happened outside what we deemed our area. we were loathe to get involved in both world wars but after world war two were more or less de facto taking over the position of leader of the west after Britains final downfall as the premiere western power in WW1/2. One could argue America becoming Team America World Police after WW2 was an accident that really was forced on rhe US. Pearl Harbor and the German declaration of war. I see this as fundamentally different than seeing your nation aggressively as the next world rulers. America was at an all time low after the great depression and derided as weak, cowardly etc by Japan and Germany. look where that got them. The fact is as long as the United States do indeed remain united short of a world war we will always be a world power. perhaps not tge preeminent world power but top three for sure and barring nuclear war that wont change. Same is very similar with Russia. Its so big it will always have an outsize effect on the world no matter how poorly the politicians and foreign policy are handled. China too because its population but unlike Russia and America only recently has become an indepdent country and was for centuries ruled by the West. History has no examples of the East doing so to the West in anywhere near the same scale at all. period.

[db_zero]

Going back from the deep politico-military-media analyses to the parade per se, one of the things which struck me immediately was the extreme precision of everything the Chinese soldiers did. I used to think the Russian Victory Day Parade was the gold standard for military marching, but the soldiers in China's VJ Day Parade are in a league unto themselves. Were precision marching the metric of military success, the US and Russia would be doomed!

 

Regards,

 

John Kettler 

They march quite well. If you view earlier parades you'll see even greater number of troops marching with the same clockwork precision The commies sure do know how to put on a parade. North Korean parades are also entertaining to watch.

 

That being said, China is going to reduce the military by 300,000 troops. They want to modernize and have a more capable and agile force. Their biggest hurdle may be the military and culture that persists. Corruption is a big problem overall in China. Its hard for many westerners who've never ventured to places far off to grasp just how prevalent and deep rooted it is in many places.

 

Some very knowledgable experts fimilar with China have may some interesting statements about the recent economic slowdown in China. They attribute it to the Partys recent crackdown on corruption which has curtailed economic activity. In the West you'd  be laughed at if you suggested a crackdown on corruption caused a drop in GDP or the PMI to fall into recession territory, but in China, perhaps not such a far fetched idea.

[John Kettler]

db_zero,

 

For some current and former senior Chinese officials, corruption convictions have resulted in a permanent acute drop in blood pressure.

 

http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/world-report/2013/07/10/chinas-crazy-executions-dont-end-public-corruption

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/11399732/China-executes-Ferrari-loving-billionaire-gangster.html

 

Rather than lose face by public scandal, conviction, imprisonment or execution, quite a few of the corrupt are killing themselves.

http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?id=20150330000011&cid=1103

 

Since many of those investigated or worse are movers and shakers, at various governmental levels, in the financial and other sectors, I don't find it surprising there would be an impact. Consequently, those more risk averse will pull in their horns, at least temporarily, further magnifying the effects. 

 

Regards,

 

John Kettler