And it’s not that the plan sucks. It doesn’t. Hu Jintao and Co should be saluted and respected for bringing as much talent as possible to China, and with coming out with the plan. The Chinese Central Government’s plans for 2010-2020 in terms of HR have a lot of what it takes to make China an HR powerhouse.

That’s how it’s supposed to work on paper, anyway. In reality, things are much different, as a Chinese language post on Sina from a Hong Konger notes. China’s biggest problem, it notes, is not just with political fragility, but with family power and the uncountable “hidden rules” (潜规则). In China, if your family has solid political bonds or is in government itself, your sons and daughters are “safe”; they aren’t likely to go hungry. Add the fact that the “capitalists”, long detested by the communist revolutionaries, are in fact the very same folks as those in power, and you see why there’s contempt from the masses at the bottom of this “food chain”, so to speak.

More disturbing is the fact that overseas Chinese who have decided to come back to the place that’s theirs find instead a People’s Republic mixed up in complex social relationships, more hidden rules than one can shake a stick at, and an impossible climate to get an education. So how do they survive? They don’t. They just simply — jump off buildings.

Do you become an HR powerhouse that way?

Most disturbing is the fact that the Chinese, fully aware of excesses in internal corruption, know that the PRC might not be their best bet. If you’re in Canada, you might soon have to come to terms with more Chinese-speaking folks than you think you could; that nation is a hot favorite amongst Chinese seeking out places where the grass is apparently greener.

And it’s not that Beijing is turning a blind eye to this. A 2007 report by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences already had red lights going off: China has taken the lead in both the nation with the most emigrants and the nation losing the most talent. 2008-2009 figures for the US show that around 70% of the immigrants are from China.

Sometimes when you see things this way, China can be a scary place. And it’s not the arrogant coal mine boss (who must have gotten rich overnight) with awful mannerisms in First Class that’s scary…