Which country is investing millions of dollars in the development of a microprocessor that is equivalent in performance (366MHZ) to the now obsolete Pentium II chip? Which country is encouraging the use of the obscure Linux operating system in lieu of the ubiquitous Windows platform? Which government is adopting word-processing software that boasts of being fully compatible with Microsoft's Office suites? And which country is soon to launch a manned space flight when the domestic per-capita income is only about US$700? The answer to each question is China.
Even to a casual observer, these actions seem absurd, if not downright stupid. In this day and age, mainstream chips are so readily available that they have all but been turned into a commodity. Processors found in an everyday home computer are six times more powerful than the Chinese imitation.
While it is noble to challenge Microsoft Window's domination of operating systems, to use another is like adopting a different voltage for the industrial electric power standard. Besides, others in the market are not as reliable and adaptable. As for the home-brand word-processing tool, what is the point?
Many other countries have gained respectability without lunar aspirations. So what are the objectives of the space programme in a country where large numbers of children do not even get an elementary education because their parents cannot afford the US$50 annual tuition fees? What prompts such bizarre behaviour in China, a country not known for being irrational? Misguided ideology and the ill-designed political system are to blame.
Communism derives its power from the barrel of a gun. But it loves to cloak the naked truth with a non-existent legitimacy, based on the premise that socialism is superior to capitalism. To prove the point, a communist government goes to extraordinary lengths to acquire the positive things found in a capitalist country, and some things that the west does not yet possess. That explains the obsession with spectaculars like space flights.
Moreover, since the communist officials are not elected by the people they govern, they are most susceptible to a 'besieged mentality'. In this way, they always feel threatened by foreign intervention. War is never far away. So if hostilities break out, they reason, supplies of microchips and other goods will be interrupted.
Some armchair strategists in China went so far as to suggest digging a canal through Thailand, the better to ensure safe passage of oil tankers from the Middle East, where more than 55 per cent of China's oil imports originate. The idea is that if hostilities break out, the Straits of Malacca will be blocked by American warships in an attempt to choke China's energy supplies.