Xi Jinping's 'Chinese Dream' has a massive, baby-sized problem
Turns out, you can build all the aircraft carriers you want, but they don't solve the fact that nobody is having kids in China.
So, Xi Jinping has spent years selling this grand vision of the Chinese Dream—the idea that China is destined to reclaim its spot at the top of the food chain and eventually dunk on the United States. It’s all very cinematic: nuclear expansion, aircraft carriers, and absolute control. But there’s a massive wrench in the gears that no amount of patriotic propaganda can fix.
The country is running out of people. Literally. Last year, birth numbers hit an embarrassing low of under 8 million. Meanwhile, schools are closing by the tens of thousands because there just aren't any kids to fill the desks. You can have all the AI and missiles you want, but you need actual humans to work the jobs, buy the stuff, and pay the taxes that keep the lights on.
The youth are basically throwing in the towel, choosing to 'lie flat' rather than grind themselves into dust for a system that feels rigged. It turns out the biggest threat to China's superpower status isn't some trade war or sanctions from Washington—it's empty maternity wards.
Turns out, you can't conquer the world if you can't be bothered to raise the next generation.
Source: Asia Today
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