The Chinese government has revealed it will boost its military spending by 12.2% in 2014, the 4th year running spending has increased and well above the 7.5% GDP growth target for the year – calling the increase “moderate, and limited in scale” and saying it will help “make more contributions to world peace.”
In dollars the 2014 total now stands at some 132 billion. In 2013 China’s military spending “only” increased 10.7%, whilst in 2012 it increased 11.2% and in 2011 went up by 12.7%.
Just how accurate the figures are has long been open to question, given the state of China’s official statistics, its propensity for unreported spending and the vast business interests maintained by the military.
State media is careful to present the increases as necessary for such innocent purposes as “modernisation” and “peacekeeping operations,” although international attention has generally been focused on its antics in Japan’s disputed border territories.
A naval buildup is believed to be the main immediate priority for China, with its long public designs on Taiwan and more recent claims on the Senkaku islands increasingly being joined by calls for Okinawa’s “return” by more extreme military hawks.
Meanwhile Japan has announced spending increases to its pathetic military budget ($47.5 billion at present) of 0.8%, whilst Obama supposedly intends to at least cut the rate of growth of the USA’s gargantuan war machine, currently at a paltry $527 billion.
Everything spend on war and armies is wasted money.
that’s why US is the strongest country. you fail at life.
knowing china, the 12 in that 12.2% will go to the politicians’ pockets anyway
There is a surprising amount of pessimism and downvoting on comments stating Japan should hold their ground and not grovel to that other country.
There is also an unusual amount of Pro That-Country comments and banter. No downvotings or challenging given.
Such a strange development, from this site’s userbase. Never thought this site would turn out like this.
Then suddenly the porn is threatened and everyone jumps to the edge of their seats ready to fight tooth and nail.
Would bang 24/7/365.
Reason number four as to why free trade with China was a very bad idea.
not really since by doing that china’s economy became a bubble that’s hellishly dependent on selling goods to the US…once the US stops trading with them, watch as china fall back to 3rd world country status
‘Muricans think they own the world, don’t they? Export to US is less than 5% of China’s GDP. 5% of the Chinese economy is still a lot of money, but cheap products sell well everywhere. If you embargo China, 4.9 of the 5% will still be sold, to someone else. The only thing you will break is Walmart.
Except for the fact that 90% of that GDP is funded by the Chinese buying up recycled Steel from the US to build “Ghost Cities” in the middle of no where that not one single citizen of China can afford to live in anyways. Dont play dumb China’s GDP is a farce. Not only that, but the American Economy DOES own the world. The US Economy slipped into a Recession due to banks loaning money to people who couldnt afford to pay the loan back.
So our housing market tanked our Economy and the rest of the world suffered. China suffered the worst. Literally everything Americans buy is from china. We stop buying your sweat shop goods and the country will slowly die from the inside out.