China is able to feed its population. It is the world’s leading producer of wheat, rice, soybeans, pork, fish, vegetables and a lot of other stuff. Calories are not a problem. The problem is upgrading the diet of the Chinese middle and working classes to provide much higher levels of high quality animal proteins. The Chinese like to eat meat as much as we do, and with China’s dramatic economic progress in recent decades, a billion-plus Chinese have gotten the idea that their diet should continue to improve. They want more meat and dairy products, which are grain intensive to produce. That’s what drives Chinese import demand. Austerity would mean backing Chinese consumers down to much lower levels of meat consumption. In a short term emergency, that would be politically sustainable. Long term, it would make a lot of people angry. That would be dangerous for a regime whose legitimacy rests on improving the standard of living.