‘However, its less the size of China’s defense budget than its composition that alarms beyond its borders. China’s military spending privileges the navy, air force and strategic nuclear forces—instruments of advanced power projection—rather than traditional defensive capabilities. No Chinese leader has yet explained how these capabilities contribute to China’s peaceful rise”. — Daniel Twining, Washington, USA.China’s Defence Budget 2012 announced in the first week of March 2012 significantly draws global and regional attention in that China has shot through its defence expenditure over the $ 100 billion mark, making China’s military expenditure at the global level, second only to that of the United States, even though there exists a wide differential between the two.
In terms of global concerns, China’s hikes in defence expenditures in 2012 military budget come under sharper scrutiny when China’s defence hikes are placed in the context of a sharp drop in United States defence budget by about $ 380 billion necessitated by US Congressional mandates. Though President Obama has reiterated that the Asia Pacific regional military posture of the United States would not be in the purview of budgetary cuts because of the new US strategic pivot to Asia Pacific, what cannot be ruled out is that in case of a sudden Middle East contingency, the United States would be forced to redirect US Forces from its strengthened posture against a fast militarily rising China. Read More
