From The Nation’s Editorial (link):
Concern over the Asian giant’s military might must be countered by encouraging openness
It should surprise nobody that US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke out so strongly about China’s growing military might last week. Her view of China has increasingly become the template of the American perception of future China. It is a view that has been repeated time and again. China should not be furious. Indeed, it should take US criticism in its stride. To counter US concerns, leaders in Beijing should be more transparent about China’s defence spending, now and in the future. At the just-concluded National People’s Congress, China announced a 14 per cent increase in military spending. China now has a US$33 billion [Bt1.3 trillion] defence budget, but everybody knows the actual spending will be much higher. For a country that professes peace and development as its ultimate goal, the budget is a bit too high and too scary.
