If a search is conducted for why Chinese people are so smart, one will encounter an abundance of articles and opinions that simply validate the perception based on IQ results and school performance driven by parroted memorization. As with plenty of “popular” knowledge, the premise is simply repeated without context or critical thinking, and that’s how myths are born.

The map above is the product of “IQ and Global Inequality,” a study conducted by two professors.

These numbers came from a work carried out from 2002 to 2006 by Richard Lynn, a British Professor of Psychology, and Tatu Vanhanen, a Finnish Professor of Political Science, who conducted IQ studies in more than 80 countries. Richard and Tatu argue that differences in national income are correlated with differences in the average national intelligence quotient (IQ). They further argue that differences in average national IQs constitute one important factor, but not the only one, contributing to differences in national wealth and rate of economic growth. These results are controversial and have caused much debate, they must be interpreted with extreme caution.

Obviously the study is controversial because establishes a connection between wealth and intelligence, while underscoring African ineptitude which is sacrilegious. But IQs must be ignored and the aggregate socio-techno-economic achievement of various civilizations must be considered.

According to the study, China is tied for 3rd place with Japan, with Hong Kong and Singapore tied for 1st. But if the Chinese are more intelligent than the Europeans — and please let the chips fall where they may — why didn’t they advance at the same or faster rate over the last three centuries? Chairman Mao would have been extremely pleased if Chinese technological prowess had propelled his failed state to the moon.

Since China became a member of the World Trade Organization, it used its cheap labor to fill its communist coffers with the money from Western Civilization, courtesy of the short-sighted CEOs and boardrooms seeking a quicker buck. And why didn’t Western Civilization outsource its manufacturing to a wide array of African countries?

Potentially one of the most amusing articles is titled “How to Raise Smart Kids Chinese-Style,” as if a human’s natural intelligence can be modified. Obviously if a race or ethnic group — prefer the term “sub-species” — is capable of developing on its own, there isn’t a need to steal intellectual property, or to send armies of students abroad to acquire STEM knowledge. However, Chinese enrollment in US colleges and universities increased 376% over the last decade, which paints Chinese-style kids as yet another academic silly solution.

One of the most recognizable Chinese companies is Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. because it has been on the news due to national security concerns as 5G networks are deployed. But what has been largely forgotten is that Huawei is hardly a repository of intelligence and creativity, as illustrated 7 years ago.

Folklore within the routing and switching community was that Huawei stole router product secrets from Cisco, down to the chassis, IOS and all the way down to the spelling errors in the manuals. Many have said it for years, but 60 Minutes put it on worldwide television tonight for everyone to know. Cisco did file suit and it was settled out of court, so we will never know what really happened. But Huawei did it, they know it, we know and Cisco knows it. Otherwise they would have never settled the court case.

That’s the Huawei way!

But Huawei is not alone because that’s how the Chinese prop their widely acclaimed IQs, as current news from the U.S. Department of Justice indicates.

At the same CSIS event, FBI Director Christopher Wray said Beijing was seeking to steal American technology by “any means necessary.” He said the bureau currently had about 1,000 open investigations of Chinese technology theft across its 56 regional offices, while FBI counterintelligence chief John Brown said it had arrested 24 people last year in China-related cases and another 19 already in 2020.

In addition to outright IP theft and academic instruction provided by Western Civilization’s lower IQ, the irony extends to “China’s Lavish Funds Lured U.S. Scientists.”

For years, China’s Thousand Talents recruitment plan attracted U.S. scientists with its grants. Investigators now say China used the program to steal sensitive technology.

Those that view China as the next super power obviously haven’t embraced logic, and skipped the unbiased and simple examination of the evidence. If a wall is built to stop technology access, China will wither back to 1949 within one generation.

The IQ game is obviously defective when matched to a measurable socio-techno-economic outcome, and the only plausible conclusion from the Lynn/Vanhanen IQ study is that Africa is potentially overrated.

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