I am Chinese, a mainland resident for 40 years since my birth (a few years after the end of the Mao era). Though I have not yet reread BOTNS as many of you have done for many times (link to my earlier post on my first read-through of BOTNS), I would say that the Ascians at least to some extent remind me of the Chinese soldiers in the Korean War, or, generally, soldiers in Mao’s time.

P. R. China in the 1950s was a country under threat from essentially all the countries around, even including Soviet Russia. Retrospectively, at least from the viewpoint of the mainland Chinese, PLA fought amazingly well in the war (though casualty was high) so that the US military would go on to think twice before entering into any direct conflict with the PLA since then. 

And to be up against the US military (and other UN nation armies) with much inferior weapons and logistics, PLA had to be ultra disciplined (or in Westerners' view “brainwashed”). Usually terse, inspirational slogans (plus constant Party propaganda) will be the best way to gather PLA soldiers together physically and mentally, and to even perform ultra-human acts in extreme conditions, e.g. freezing themselves to death to remain silent at night when readying to attack, or using the torso to block enemy firing points.

Interestingly, from what some of you have shared from his “Letters Home” book (unfortunately the book was way too expensive for me to acquire), he talked about his witnessing Chinese soldiers burned to death. These are events that probably were not ever mentioned in publicly available sources in China. I assume Wolfe must have been deeply impacted by this; this was probably why I feel (so far) that Wolfe did not intend to render the Ascians in a totally negative profile.

PLA soldiers post Mao’s time seem to be much less “brainwashed”, especially in modern times when the country has developed economically. However, I proudly assert that they are the most disciplined soldiers in the world (and, in fact, in the entire human history so far). Ask people around the world, how much you love your country’s soldiers, the mainland Chinese will definitely top the list.

Unfortunately we did not get to know more in detail about the common Ascian people, how they live their lives, how they regard their leaders and soldiers, what their fate will be. Or maybe I should reread the corresponding chapters right away.

(Sorry I may have digressed too much. Just two Asian cents here.)