Pentagon estimates Chinese military spending at two to three times government figures

Raw Story | May 23 2006

A new Pentagon report asserts that China's defense spending is two to three times higher than official government estimates, as Beijing oversees a military expansion that threatens to alter Asia's strategic balance, the Wall Street Journal reports online Tuesday. Excerpts:

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The lack of transparency surrounding this buildup, the U.S. Defense Department report warns, is unnerving China's neighbors whose own security could be challenged by a Chinese military able to project its power well beyond the Taiwan Straits. The Pentagon sees Beijing as fixated on securing China's energy and resource needs.

In all, the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency projects that China's total military-related spending this year will total between $70 billion to $105 billion, two to three times the announced budget-and more than twice what Japan spends annually on its military. The study concludes that China's investment in long-range ballistic missiles, naval assets and strike fighters suggest Beijing is preparing for the need to project is power beyond Taiwan and its perimeters.

The different messages from Beijing's civilian and military leaders on key issues like nuclear doctrine are only heightening global concerns about the ramifications of China's economic and military rise, the report says.

FULL RESTRICTED STORY HERE.

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