Abortion + Traditional Preference for Males = ???

Obviously, the preference for males combined with cheap ultrasound and abortion has lead to a huge surplus of them in China. But what will the eventual consequences be? Nobody knows, but it can't be good. What frightens me is the potential for global conflict if the Chinese authorities ever decide to put all that restless energy to more productive use. Shooting from the hip, inter-nation-state warfare seems to be a pretty effective way to distract a populace from looking at internal problems. A massive surplus in males is bound to lead to social unrest and domestic problems. As the article above states, in the past such an imbalance has led to civil war in China. Will the Chinese prefer a war over Taiwan or another territory to a potential civil conflict? The Chinese have been restrained in their military excursions over the past few decades. With low estimates of military spending between $69 and $78 billion, that's alot of money to spend on a military you don't plan on using. That number looms even larger when one considers how far a dollar can go in China. The Chinese have been ramping up on everything from fighter jets to naval ships to military satellites. Hell, they even used a missile to shoot down an old weather satellite, rattling everyone from ESA to the Indian and Japanese militaries and demonstrating their commitment to developing assymetric warfare capabilities of the unconventional type. When one considers the potential ramifications for early detection of a nuclear attack, that move was especially troublesome, but I digress.

On a more personal note, I know one Chinese post doc who is really worried about even being able to find a wife. To get a degree in the from a good university in the US means that he is set for life if he wants to teach at a Chinese university, but it also means that there will hardly be anybody left to marry that is even close to his age when he gets back home. He mentions the topic everytime the subject of life after graduation comes up and is visibly disturbed by the prospect of being single his entire life. I've tried to gently suggest that he marry a non-Chinese if he is so worried, but he hasn't even acknowledged my comments. As someone with Korean, Filipino, Mexican and French cousins, not to mention the disparate family backgrounds from 50-100 years ago, that idea seemed plausible to me. I guess it is different for those living in more closed societies, though it seems like a better option than many others. I wonder though if one could find many people willing to emigrate from a place like the Philippines to China? I don't think staying overseas is an option for him. He even has to pay the Chinese government money for each year he is away studying in the US, since he is not being a "productive member of Chinese society."

The point is that China has an awful lot of single guys floating around without much chance of even emigrating to find a wife. I have a few ideas on how to help ease the problem but have a tough time imagining a workable solution with the current Chinese policies in place. I also really wonder what result of this will be and find some of the scenarios downright scary.

Perhaps someone out there has a different perspective?