John Garnaut has written a 3200+ word article about corruption in the PLA, an issue that has not received the attention it merits, at least in open source Western analysis of China’s military.

PLA corruption is probably a good thing for the US and its allies on several levels, from lower force readiness to procurement of defective weapons systems (think high speed rail problems) to exploitable, corrupt officers. A successful anti-corruption campaign may not be something the West wants.

A real corruption crackdown is also something that global luxury retailers would dread as they rely on Chinese corruption to fuel much of their global growth.

You can read the entire article here.

[UPDATE: Foreign Policy has published a somewhat different version of this essay here. END UPDATE]