The Chinese government finished sentencing two former defense ministers for bribery. They call it a crackdown on corruption. It is actually just the removal of liabilities. The system does not care about the money taken. It only cares that the wrong people held it.

The mechanics of the betrayal are simple.

• Bribery is the standard operating procedure.
• Political purges replace the guilty.
• The military-industrial complex remains untouched.

The names and titles change. The greed stays the same. This is how power maintains itself.