China's military build up ignored by Obama, media

While the news media and politicians in the United States continue their focus on domestic issues such as President Barck Obama's health care plan there are enormous changes occurring in the People's Republic of China. For the most part, the news media and pundits have ignored events in China for over a decade, except during the Summer Olympic Games when many members of the mainstream media gushed over the Chinese.

Even when President Bill Clinton allowed dual-purpose technology transfers to the Chinese, few realized the significance of those transfers, and little was reported in the US media. Some of that US technology, for example, helped the Chinese government in perfecting the accuracy of their Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs).

Sadly, many political leaders are still ignoring the fact that China is planning to increase its military spending by up to 15% in the new fiscal year. Of course, an official from China's parliament quickly told US and European Union military analysts that much of the increase would be used to cover fuel and salaries and that China was a "peace-loving nation".

Jiang Enzhu, a member of the Chinese parliament, told the British Broadcasting Company that the US spent a greater proportion of its economy on defense and that China had "no intention of vigorously developing armaments." However, American intelligence sources have at various times accused China of understating its military budget and weapons programs.

It's been widely accepted that China's armed forces are the largest in the world and has undergone double-digit increases in military spending since the early 1990s. The increases have caused fear by their immediate neighbors Japan and Taiwan. The US has also expressed concerns over the spending on their 2.5 million strong military. Washington has several times accused China of understating its military budget.

But the Chinese government claims its spending is in line with military budgets in other governments. China's defense budget has climbed in recent years along with the success of its economy. China also claims its military spending is insignificant when compared with the United States. According to Pentagon figures the US had a base military budget of $400 billion in last year.

Japan is also developing new torpedos to boost the defense of its islands, including some claimed by China. The Japanese fear the Chinese may try to take over the disputed islands.

Part of the efforts to strengthen its ability to defend remote islands against Chinese attack entailed the Japanese sending some ground troops to San Diego, California for advanced training with the US Marines, the Nihon Keizai newspaper said. The troops took part in reconnaissance training such as learning how to land on potentially-occupied remote islands and gather information, the paper said.

The aim is to strengthen Japan's ability to defend remote southern isles such as the disputed islands known as the Diaoyus in China and the Senkakus in Japan, the newspaper said.

Wang Xinjun, a military analyst, told the Chinese media that the US is playing up China's military power in order to contain China's military development. He says that the Pentagon seeks to strengthen US forces in the Asia Pacific area, in order to offset China's influence in the region.

Meanwhile, left-wing politicians and activists in the US believe this is a means by which the Pentagon may garner more funding for military weapons and technology. As usual, the liberal-left in the US sees no threat to national security, preferring to hamper any military spending as they did during the Cold War.