My brother spent five years in China as a program manager for the engineering of a manufacturing facility for a multinational project. He said Chinese engineers can often do calculus in their head, can remember rote processes to follow in exquisite detail, but often don’t know how to address an engineering problem, how to figure out the actual problem that you apply the math and science to solve. No imagination, no creativity.
He said he’d rather have a class of bright American high schoolers to work with than Chinese engineers. You can teach a bright, inquisitive kid the math and science, but you can’t teach someone whose creativity is stifled the “steps to be creative.”
As well, Chinese society is overwhelmed with total corruption. It’s so complete, they don’t even recognize it as such. Everyone is so caught up in following the dictates of the corrupt system, there is little room left for true innovation or original thought.
Those are a few of their problems.
And they are trying to graft that culture onto us.
Chinese culture traditionally does not tolerate deviations from accepted paths, mistakes or failures. Combine that with a rigid top to down control structure and there simply is no incentive and in fact much risk with innovation. During the Korean War, the Chinese took horrendous casualities. Once a plan was made and attack started the junior and mid level officers in the field would almost never deviate from a plan despite the reality of the situation. In fact they faced criticism and dicipline if an objective was not achieved regardless of losses. It was thought that Mao mimicked Stalin’s famous order of “Not one step back” and the commissars enforced it.
Hopefully there won’t be another war. However do not believe that the PLA will do as well as their numbers and equipment would suggest if one were to happen. Also due to their rigidity, their industry and technology is often a step behind the West and the Chinese squander immense amounts of capital to compensate.