China Spends the Cash
With all the attention being paid to problems in the Middle East these days, it’s easy to lose sight of the military buildup in Asia.
Remember pre-9/11 assessments that the major threat looming on the horizon was a rising China? The first significant military confrontation the Bush administration faced was the mishap between a Chinese F-8 fighter and an American EP-3 surveillance plane in March 2001. The incident and its messy aftermath sent Sino-U.S. relations into a tailspin, cutting off mil-to-mil contacts and icing over diplomatic relations.
As America’s involvement in the Middle East and its commitments to the global war on terrorism increased, China continued its double-digit defense buildup.
A column from the online magazine “World Politics Watch” analyzes the increase and its impact.
While much of the reaction to China's increase in defense spending was dictated by domestic politics, there are real concerns about China's military intensions. China has been reluctant to disclose such information -- mostly out of fear that such a disclosure would remove any advantage it might have should a conflict over Taiwan break out. Still, Beijing does not want any suspicions over its army to lead to an unwanted conflict, so it has made greater efforts in the past year to air its military intentions.
Still, we need to keep in mind that even though the Chinese defense budget has posted huge increases for 19 years straight, it’s still only a fraction of the U.S. military budget in real terms. And the technical prowess of their purchases is generations behind American technology – or even those of defense spendthrift Europe.
But the recent successful test firing of a Chinese anti-satellite missile has put that country’s military evolution back into the headlines. And intelligence officials still tell Congress America’s spooks are keeping a wary eye over their shoulder at the rising dragon in the East.
(Gouge: NC)
-- Christian
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--1) Purchasing power parity is the key issue: What resources can you purchase _in China_ with the money you have, not in the US.
actualy China is VERY RICH on ressources.
---2) I mostly agree with Keith, though it's unclear to me how much the PLA really care about the Olympics. Sure, the foreign ministry care, but they aren't the PLA.--
i dont see tanks and soldiers of forign ministry marshing in Tibet, south mongolia and East Turkestan. Do you?
--The Chinese anti-satellite missile was militarily effective, but a diplomatic blunder.--
that depens on what they wanted to show..
Posted by: janny the fart at July 17, 2008 03:12 AM