No surprise that western governments are running short of China experts. People with genuine China expertise in western governments find themselves often regarded as too understanding of Chinese positions. Their expertise is exploited when expedient and more often disregarded as politically inconvenient. They usually will have a boss who is hostile to China, not by accident. Their promotion prospects will tend to depend on confidence that although expert, they are not interested in China and, preferably, hostile to China. Seeing all this happening, younger staff steer clear of making too much investment in acquiring Chinese experience and skills. Anyone with actual recent experience of living in China is likely to be excluded from ability to get a security clearance and so unemployable in government. The result is western governments flying ever blinder and more prejudiced on China.