China Releases New Defense White Paper

From DoD Buzz:

China released its new National Defense White Paper this week, which can be found here on the People’s Daily Online.

The paper says China’s defense expenditures are both “reasonable and appropriate,” and puts that figure at 1.38 percent of China’s GDP in 2007 (the CIA puts that figure at closer to four or five percent). “Although the share of China’s defense expenditure in its GDP increased, that in the state financial expenditure continued to drop on the whole,” it says. The paper says defense spending increases are needed to (1) increase salaries and benefits of personnel; (2) compensate for commodity price rises, such as food and fuel; and (3) push military modernization.

Read more ....

My Comment: The present economic climate will probably limit this growth .... but the Chinese have always adopted the long range view .... and they will succeed.