Mats,
I don't know which is more drawish, chess or Xiang Qi. But Xiang Qi is
really too drawish for professional players. For inexperienced players it
often comes to a checkmate. The situation like Kasparov v.s. Anand 1995 PCA
also occurs in Chinese Professional League of Xiang Qi. Professional
players are making rules to punish negtive draws.
I've read the article you mentioned. Too much imagination there.