Sunday, March 04, 2007
China Increases Military Budget
Many Western critics claim China’s real military spending is much higher than its budget figure, with some US analysts estimating actual military spending at up to three times the budget figure.
The United States wants ‘more extensive dialogue about what the (military) build-up involves’, Negroponte told reporters in Beijing after talks with Chinese officials. But, USA is now close to being unable to do much more, at this time, than being conciliatory and not making waves, I think. At least in the present US political position.
China will encourage private companies to invest in the national defence industry, according to the Commission of Science Technology and Industry for National Defence.
Jiang Enzhu, spokesman for the Fifth Session of the 10th National People's Congress, said the budget is being raised to increase salaries and allowances to servicemen and army retirees. The increase also will reportedly be used to upgrade military equipment
Much of this money is clearly going in salaries. Also, China seems to be a captive of its weak currency, which it probably feels it has to retain at comewhere near present levels for a variety of good reasons. Taiwan is still a real problem for China and the USA could well be wise to keep things that way.
IMO: We may have the Russian situation being repeated, where China will eventually find it has to spend itself into something near poverty and destitution, and what about North China and its problems. And all the new environment problems China is having to spend money on, not to be 'green', but just to survive. The easiest answer for China in the long term may be fragmentation. Or something like what happened to the USSR. Almost as long as I can remember, Russians have said that they were carrying their colonies (or whatever you like to call them) like an almost unbearable burden. Now Russia has lost its colonies, and is rich, or at least richer than it was. South China can do without the North. Good idea ? I do not know, offhand.
The United States wants ‘more extensive dialogue about what the (military) build-up involves’, Negroponte told reporters in Beijing after talks with Chinese officials. But, USA is now close to being unable to do much more, at this time, than being conciliatory and not making waves, I think. At least in the present US political position.
China will encourage private companies to invest in the national defence industry, according to the Commission of Science Technology and Industry for National Defence.
Jiang Enzhu, spokesman for the Fifth Session of the 10th National People's Congress, said the budget is being raised to increase salaries and allowances to servicemen and army retirees. The increase also will reportedly be used to upgrade military equipment
Much of this money is clearly going in salaries. Also, China seems to be a captive of its weak currency, which it probably feels it has to retain at comewhere near present levels for a variety of good reasons. Taiwan is still a real problem for China and the USA could well be wise to keep things that way.
IMO: We may have the Russian situation being repeated, where China will eventually find it has to spend itself into something near poverty and destitution, and what about North China and its problems. And all the new environment problems China is having to spend money on, not to be 'green', but just to survive. The easiest answer for China in the long term may be fragmentation. Or something like what happened to the USSR. Almost as long as I can remember, Russians have said that they were carrying their colonies (or whatever you like to call them) like an almost unbearable burden. Now Russia has lost its colonies, and is rich, or at least richer than it was. South China can do without the North. Good idea ? I do not know, offhand.
# posted by uv : 8:47 PM
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