Fred Bauder wrote:
There have been instances where Chinese troops have been undisciplined.
That's a product of the military mentality. The rank-and-file military is not drawn from the upper socio-economic strata of a society. Such examples can be drawn from many countries. The first things that recruits are taught is to march in step. That's a part of insuring that they will ride like Tennyson's 600 into the Valley of Death.
All it proves is that people who have been desperately poor all their lives were tempted by wristwatches and ballpoint pens.
Again, this is not uniquely Chinese, or a specific reflection on the current government of China. It's been over 20 years since I visited India, but at that time I would encounter Indian government employees ogling the cheap ballpoint pens that I carried in my shirt pocket. It may me feel that if I ever went back to India I should do so with an ample supply of cheap pens for use in convincing officials about the right decisions.
Ec