Submarine performance is not just measured in technical terms, but also in how crews operate over time. As the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) increasingly deploys its submarine force beyond the near seas on long-distance combat readiness and training missions, studying the force’s human components benefits a broader understanding its overall effectiveness. This report explores work and living conditions, crew endurance, service culture, political requirements, and approaches to resolving human issues in the submarine force. An inherently dangerous and challenging profession, the submarine force has gradually developed numerous solutions to…
Day: June 20, 2024
China’s revealing struggle with childhood myopia
NO ETHICS committee would let researchers trap millions of children indoors for months, just to test the effects on their eyesight. Yet China’s strict zero-covid rules—notably a nationwide lockdown that closed many schools between January and May 2020, leaving children studying online with few chances to leave their homes—created just such a natural experiment. The Economist
China wants to export education, too
ABOUT 500 pupils study at the Chinese School Dubai. Most are children of Chinese expatriates who have moved to the United Arab Emirates for work. At the school’s swish suburban campus, pupils follow much the same curriculum they would at home. On one wall hangs a bland quote from China’s leader, Xi Jinping, picked out in shiny gold. The institution, which has more than doubled in size since its opening in 2020, is a pilot project: the first of several international schools the Communist Party talks of setting up in…
China doesn’t want people flaunting their wealth
MAO ZEDONG persecuted the rich. But his successor as paramount leader, Deng Xiaoping, decided to “let some people get rich first”, as he launched market-oriented reforms. Now a growing number of Chinese are rich—and the pendulum has swung back, with the government cracking down on ostentatious displays of wealth. The Economist