It began in 2018.

"Marriages are increasing noticeably in China this year," because "Couples can now register their marriage in places which, until recently, would have seemed unimaginable as a site of official paperwork: nightclubs, beach resorts, even music festivals where civil servants sit at temporary registration desks." Young Chinese may again be warming to marriage, "But specialists caution that the surge may be more about convenience and novelty than a real change in attitude about family life." MC. But, marriage yes, babies no. "China's population fell for a fourth consecutive year in 2025, dropping by 3.39 million to 1.405 billion, a faster decline than 2024, official data showed." ET. Its "birthrate fell to 5.63 per 1,000 people - a record low since the Communist Party took power in 1049 - while its death rate rose to 8.04, the highest since 1968." Fertility rate has fallen to 1, so the government has offered parents 3,600 yuan ($500) per each of their children under the age of three," and "a new 13% tax on contraceptives - including condoms, birth control pills and devices - has sparked concern about unwanted pregnancies and HIV rates." BBC. Sticks and a carrot. "China has given its top AI startup DeepSeek approval to buy Nvidia's H200 artificial intelligence chips," and "a senior US lawmaker had alleged that Nvidia had helped DeepSeek hone artificial intelligence models that were later used by the Chinese military." Reuters. "Engineers at Beihang University, a military-linked school, created a system in which defensive drones mimic hawks by targeting the most vulnerable enemy drones, while attacking drones behave like doves to evade the hawks. In a five-on-five simulation, the hawks destroyed all the doves in just 5.3 seconds." TOI. Drones cannot command an army. "The senior ranks of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) are in tatters. The weekend purging of China's top general, Zhang Youxia, and another senior military officer, Gen Liu Zhenli, has left serious questions about what triggered the elite power struggles unfolding in the country - and what this means for China's war fighting capacity." BBC. "Chinese leader Xi Jinping's decision to place the country's top-ranking general under investigation is a stunning move that leaves Xi virtually alone at the top of the military hierarchy," "But the purge makes one thing clear: Xi sees no target too big to be taken down." Zhang was a close ally of Xi and "Their fathers had fought together in China's civil war." CNN. It seems that Xi has become paranoid like every dictator must become. It would have started in 2018 at the National People's Congress which "approved the removal of the two-term limit on the presidency, effectively allowing Xi Jinping to remain in power for life." BBC. Xi must know how Liu Shaoqi' life ended, having delivered a speech about him in the Great Hall of the People on 23 November 2018. wikipedia. He cannot afford to be deposed. So his brutality will only increase. Unless someone stops him. Permanently.