Inasmuch as any nation-state can be ‘grown-up’, sure. China has now built two aircraft carriers (it has three), three islands (that are now fully militarized despite their promises to the contrary),a space station and landed on the dark side of the moon. None of these things are the acts of a developing nation. Not. One.
So why is China still receiving assistance as a developing nation? The country that is itself lending billions to underdeveloped nations, building massive infrastructure programs in the infamous Belt and Road Initiative and is fast making a name for itself as a payday lender to Third World nations (say hi, Sri Lanka!) is still classified as a developing nation.
The answer – there is no standard definition of ‘developing nation’. All the untold billions sent to the UN and the World Bank and neither ever got around to defining ‘developing nation’. Gee, what an oversight. Oh well, we’ll just have each nation-state declare its own status. What could go wrong?
Being fair, China is not the only nation that pulls this stunt (looking at you, South Korea! – or would be if you hadn’t already taken care of this) but China is far and away the worst offender. There are objective metrics by which China can rightly claim developing status; its abysmal income per capita topping the list. But that only brings up the question of why they are wasting so much money on projects that only a developed nation-state can legitimately justify?
I love space and battleships as much as the next geeky girl but neither is a justifiable expense for a developing nation. Space exploration (or China’s version, exploitation) is fun and even provides some benefits but it does not provide enough benefits to help grow a developing economy. Aircraft carriers have sadly supplanted battleships in modern navel warfare but what, exactly, does a developing nation need with three of them? Especially the Chinese knock offs that are diesel powered (I kid you not) and insufficient to take on a supercarrier.
Who else are they going to fight? Russia’s only carrier is Soviet Era and has a lifetime membership to Triple A. (Not kidding, it has gone out several times with a tugboat because it couldn’t get very far on its own). France? India? The United Kingdom? I’m running out of nation-states that even have carriers, let alone blue water navies that can support them. So, tell me again, why does a developing nation need an aircraft carrier when the only nation-state they can potentially even have a real navel war with is the United States?
And we have to supply the blue water part of that!
Oh sure, we do have India on the list of ‘developing nations dumb enough to build aircraft carriers’ (thankfully a fairly short list) but it is off the US trade benefits list as of 2020. And it has an ongoing dispute with China that has involved military conflict in the past. While I think there should be zero developing nations building massively expensive money pits like aircraft carriers India at least has a point given its contentious relationship with China.
But building space stations? Seriously? Granted it’s about twenty-four years too late for the International Space Station party and the CCP is still peeved that the US won’t let them steal anymore tech from the ISS, but what’s a poor developing nation to do? I mean besides not wasting billions on a boondoggle that all the cool kids already did!
Leave aside that the US helps fund the International Monetary Fund and that the fungible nature of money (money doesn’t care what source it came from as far as for what it can be used) means the US is indirectly funding China’s stupid naval buildup. Forget that most rural Chinese live in poverty. Why is a nation-state that has twice hosted extravagant Olympic games not addressing the problems of its own people and severe economic disparity instead of spending like a drunken sailor?
If China can afford a space program, three aircraft carriers, and an infrastructure initiative that spans Eurasia then it no longer needs any assistance from the international community. Further, it no longer needs any special considerations in trade deals. And since it now surpasses the United States in terms of the number of its naval vessels, never mind that they aren’t a blue water navy, China no longer needs the US Navy to protect its trade routes.
Just spend less on killer satellites and more on oilers and you can do it yourself. China. After all, you’re a big country now. Time to start acting like it. No more developing nation status or benefits for you.
We’ll even help by taking the training wheels off your bike!
