DTN News - CHINA DEFENSE NEWS: China's Military - Details Of The Pentagon Report
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - August 26, 2011: China has expressed disappointment over the US Department of Defense's (DoD) annual report on the state of its military, insisting that the report still fails to acknowledge that China's defense policy is peace oriented.
The recent defense report titled 'Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China' says that the country has made "modest, but incremental, improvements in the transparency of its military and security affairs," adding that the United States is "uncertain about how China will use its growing capabilities."
According to Xinhua, America's concern regarding China's military capabilities is a result of the expansion of China's naval power and the modernization of many military systems. However, China has once again insisted in its own defense whitepaper released this March that its National Defense Policy will never adopt an aggressive military policy.
Despite the fact that the U.S. is concerned about China's military policies, the difference in defense spending between the two countries is still quite large. For 2011, military spending by the United States is nearly eight times that of China. On a per person basis, the U.S. spends over 30 times the amount of China and with a GDP 2.5 times larger, the defense budget of the United States takes up roughly five percent of its GDP compared to 1.6 percent for China, the report said.
The 94-page report said China is developing anti-ship missiles that could target aircraft carriers while expanding the naval fleet, adding: "Following this period of ambitious acquisition, the decade from 2011 through 2020 will prove critical to the PLA (People's Liberation Army) as it attempts to integrated many new and complex platforms."
The Pentagon also warned Beijing has closed critical technological gaps and is rapidly modernizing its military equipment, all with an eye toward preventing possible US and allied intervention in a conflict with Taiwan.
However, the Chinese government says that the report interferes with the country's internal affairs by talking about cross-strait security issues between Chinese mainland and Taiwan.
Last year, the United States approved a 6.4 billion dollar weapons package for Taiwan that included Patriot Missiles, Black Hawk helicopters and communications equipment for F-16s. Arms sales to the island have always been a bone of contention between both the countries.
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