China instituted the one-child policy in 1979 under the Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping in order to control China’s exploding population rate. Then China was largely rural with a large peasantry class. That still remains the case outside of China’s major commercial cities. The policy was passed as a temporary measure but is still a fixture for roughly 40% of married couples, 30 years later. To mention that it has affected society goes without saying. Parents are forced to be selective about births. As a result, infant girls are aborted, abandoned, or go unregistered. Infant boys are overwhelmingly chosen over girls and have caused an unnatural demographic shift in the male female ratio. (I believe the natural ratio is 104:100?) This has government planning authorities worried.
The end result is a startling gender imbalance, measured by the 2010 census to be 118 boys born for every 100 girls. Back in 1982 the ratio was 108:100, rising to 111:100 in 1990 and 116:100 in 2000. (Investor Spot)
China’s economic success has led to an emerging middle class, and like all parents who wish to give their kids more than they had, not to mention the psychology associated with one-child families, parents are reluctant to give their kids over to a growing military destined for confrontation.
Washington Times | An Army Of One Child
China’s military is unique in many ways, but one of its most bizarre features is this demographic: More than 80 percent of current combat troops were born to one-child families, according to a study by Senior Col. Liu Mingfu of China’s National Defense University.
China adopted its draconian one-child-per-family policy in the late 1970s and early 1980s. With a military age range of between 18 and 49, the People’s Liberation Army began to witness a rapid climb of one-child family soldiers in the late 1990s, and the trend has not stopped.
The phenomenon has grave implications for the PLA’s combat performance for several reasons. First, China has a de facto voluntary service system, which means fewer families are willing to send their only children to join the PLA. Second, many soldiers from only-child families tend to be spoiled and harder to train and command. Also, much higher social tension is likely to arise if large numbers of soldiers are killed or wounded in combat, as families will grieve far more emotionally.
The uncertainty and anxiety created by the large numbers of single-child soldiers is impacting Chinese military leaders, especially those with ultranationalist leanings such as Col. Liu, who is widely viewed as one of China‘s most jingoistic military officers.
Col. Liu‘s recent book “A Chinese Dream: Big-Power Thinking and Strategic Positioning in a Post-U.S.A. Era” calls for the downfall of the United States and defines China‘s No. 1 national goal as becoming the world’s most dominant military power.
To reach that goal, Col. Liu reasons, China needs an army of soldiers who will sacrifice their lives unselfishly for the Communist Party and the country. Hence, he worries about the extraordinarily high percentage of one-child-family soldiers.
China’s active-duty military is the largest in the world with an estimated 2.28 million troops.
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