China announces 11.2% rise in Military spending as USA cuts..

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-03-04/chinese-military-spending-will-rise-11-percent-in-2012

China Lifts Military Spending in Face of Disputes
By Bloomberg News on March 04, 2012

China plans to increase defense spending 11.2 percent this year as the country’s expanding global commitments and lingering territorial disputes drive demand for more warships, missiles and fighter planes.

Military spending is set to rise this year to about 670 billion yuan ($106.4 billion), Li Zhaoxing, spokesman for China’s National People’s Congress, said yesterday ahead of a speech today by Premier Wen Jiabao to open the annual 10-day session of the country’s legislature.

China’s defense spending, the second highest in the world after the U.S., has risen in tandem with the expansion of its economy.

U.S. analysts say actual Chinese defense spending is much higher than the amount announced by Li yesterday.

Phillip Saunders, director of the Center for the Study of Chinese Military Affairs at National Defense University in Washington, estimates China’s true defense spending is 50 percent higher than the official budget because items such as research and development as well as foreign weapons procurement are not included.

<img src="http://www.thehindu.com/multimedia/dynamic/00942/TH04-MILITARY_DRILL_942282f.jpg">
A Chinese warship launches a missile during a live-ammunition military drill held by the South China Sea Fleet of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy

 

I know they recently finished their first aricraft carrier and that the head of the navy said they have to do more to get ready for a war in the South China sea.

 

Yet the military budget of the US would still be roughly 7 times as much.

 

It will come down to economic might, whoever is able to maintain the world's premier military in the future. One by one, other countries are beginning to quietly transact outside of the world reserve currency, with ominous implications.

 

China does not report all their military spending

 

even if it's 50% higher than the official figure of $106.4 billion, that's still miniscule compared to the US.

 

The trend is very clear though, a country with more and more money to spend and one that has less and less. Also, playing defense is always cheaper than playing offense, so if and when we need to attack China by landing forces into mainland China or engage in a conflict near Chinese waters, their defensive capabilities might be more than enough to deny ours.

Don't forget that in the only direct military conflict between China and the USA since the 1950's, the Chinese 13th army comprehensively defeated the United States 8th army. It remains the longest retreat in US military history.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Ch'ongch'on_River

The Chinese 13th Army first launched a series of surprise attacks along the Ch'ongch'on River Valley on the night of November 25, 1950, effectively destroying the Eighth United States Army's right flank while allowing Chinese forces to move rapidly into UN rear areas.

In the aftermath of the battle, the US Eighth Army's heavy losses forced all UN forces to evacuate North Korea and to withdraw to the 38th parallel.

The US 2nd Infantry Division was deemed to be crippled, and Keiser was relieved from command by the end of the battle.

The following 120 mi (190 km) withdrawal to the 38th parallel is often referred to as "the longest retreat in US military history."

The entire Eighth Army was also gripped with "bug out fever" during the retreat, and a song called the "Bugout Boogie" was composed to commemorate the Eighth Army's defeat.

China was also catapulted into the status of a major military power following the victory at Chosin.

With the entire UN front collapsing, the race to the Yalu was ended with the communist forces of China recapturing much of North Korea.

The Korean War would drag on for another two and a half years before the armistice was signed on 27 July 1953.

 

This is not good for China. Our trading partners are making a mistake to expend resources on wasting assets, while we spend ours on infrastructure, education, and social programs. We will end up much stronger economically that way. Economic power is far more important than military power.

The U.S. must have a goal of reducing military expenditure per capita by at least 50% over ten years. That is a reasonable goal and will still leave the U.S, with a capable and more than adequate military force.

China is not to be feared. No country will lay waste to an important trading partner. To paraphrase Pogo, We have already met the enemy and he is us.

The best way to deal with an increase in Chinese military spending is to ignore it. This is the twenty-first century, not the twentieth. Conventional military forces are obsolescent. Twenty-first century wars will be economic and cyberspace wars. Only primitive countries and/or countries driving by irrational religious zeal will bother building-up twentieth century weaponry in the twenty-first century.

 

+1

 

Chinese flooded the border with trumpets and a million troops, backed up by MIGS in Korea. US can't deploy enough fighters and A-10 warthogs and is massively outnumbered on the ground. Statements on attacking China with something like "Desert Shield" is laughable.