...except the point of this article seems to be that China's current scientific strength is largely a consequence of the state spending more money on science, i.e. material advantage.
In any case, I think China's cohesion can easily be seen just by looking at the differences in papers being published in china vs the west.
For instance, you won't find many if any papers in china on the effects of diversity within society and the workplace. Unlike here, they don't seem to be urgently researching in this area.
Maybe, and just maybe, their research in those areas is not something anybody would be willing to publish.