I'm fluent in Chinese, and taught English there one summer. English teachers were never paid well in China, unlike in Japan (and I assume other countries). Your whole article rings true to me. When people asked if I ever considered living there, I was like "&^%$ NO!" The British gov/mil are famous in the American gov/mil for valuing foreign language skills, so it's shocking to hear so few Brit diplomats are experts in the language. And it is true that the American gov/mil still doesn't place high enough a value on skills in world languages.