soc.culture.asian.american

The Portrait of a Belligerently Menacing "Olympic Host" -- Chinese
Military Spending Up Sharply

The New York Times

March 5, 2008

Chinese Military Spending Up Sharply

By DAVID LAGUE

BEIJING ¡ª China announced a further sharp increase in military spending
on Tuesday, a day after the United States renewed its warning that a
lack of openness surrounding the rapid buildup of the Chinese armed
forces posed a threat to stability in Asia.

China¡¯s military budget for 2008 will increase by 17.6 percent to 417.77
billion yuan, or about $58.8 billion, Jiang Enzhu, spokesman for the
National People¡¯s Congress, China¡¯s legislature, told a news conference.

This follows a 17.8 percent increase in 2007.

Before the annual legislative session, which begins Wednesday, Mr. Jiang
also said the situation in the Taiwan Strait was ¡°grim and complex¡± and
called on the Taiwanese president, Chen Shui-bian, to halt what Beijing
described as unacceptable moves toward independence. China considers the
island of Taiwan a breakaway province.

China has increased annual defense outlays by double-digit percentages
most years in the past two decades to pay for an array of modern weapons
and better training and conditions for its 2.3 million-person military,
the world¡¯s biggest standing force.

Foreign security experts in the United States and elsewhere say
Beijing¡¯s real military spending is two or three times the announced
figure. They say these sustained increases have put China on track to
become a major military power and the country most capable of
challenging American dominance in East Asia.

They also say that China¡¯s main objective is to develop the firepower to
overwhelm Taiwan in the event of conflict while deterring or delaying
any American forces sent to help defend the island.

Senior Chinese officials dismiss these assessments.

Mr. Jiang said the increase in spending this year was purely defensive
and would allow for upgraded equipment along with better pay and
benefits for service personnel.

As a proportion of government outlays, the amount is less than what the
United States, Russia, India and France spend on their militaries, he said.

¡°China¡¯s limited armed forces are totally for the purpose of
safeguarding independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity,¡± Mr.
Jiang said. ¡°China will not pose a threat to any country.¡±

In its annual report to Congress on the Chinese military, released on
Monday, the Pentagon said the outside world had limited knowledge of the
motivation behind China¡¯s accelerating buildup and the capabilities it
was developing.

Beijing had yet to give detailed reasons for its modernization or
publish complete figures on military spending, the report said.

¡°The lack of transparency in China¡¯s military and security affairs poses
risks to stability by increasing the potential for misunderstanding and
miscalculation,¡± it said.

In Beijing, the Chinese government criticized the Pentagon report,
saying it distorted the facts.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/05/world/asia/05china.html?