China Is Losing The Biggest Battle There is: Demography

So much for kicking America’s derriere, if it cant reproduce enough babies for the next generation.

Rui Xu via Unsplash

This article is inspired by something that I read well over a day ago from a prominent player in this space.

The author, in his piece, pointed to a vast number of infrastructural and economic achievements that China has racked up in the last twenty years, which has it firmly in the driving seat, well ahead of the United States of America.

And at first glance, It is almost tempting to agree with everything that he has written on the subject matter. But on much closer inspection, you start to realize that the author’s subjectivity has blinded him to the wider forces at play, which potentially has the power to undermine the gains of the last few decades.

And what exactly, might this be?

The People’s Republic of China’s recently scrapped one child policy.

Introduced in 1980, when China was still an economic backwater and the great leap forward was very much in its infancy, this policy arose out of concerns on overpopulation. It is believed that this policy initiative prevented 400 million babies from being born.

While it may have been a good idea back then, it is one that’s completely out of step today…