China and the United States have drawn concern to each other’s military plan. From AFP:
China announced Tuesday its defence spending would rise 17.6 percent this year but insisted the increase was moderate, after the United States expressed concerns about Beijing’s expanding military power.
Military spending in 2008 will reach 417.8 billion yuan (57.2 billion US dollars at the end-2007 exchange rate), a spokesman for China’s parliament told reporters ahead of the legislature’s annual session beginning Wednesday…
A Pentagon report said China’s military spending in 2007 was more than double Beijing’s official budgeted figure of 45 billion US dollars.
See also AP’s report: Pentagon Says China’s Boost to Space Plan Poses a Threat, which says, “The report places increased emphasis on concern about China’s space programs and potential for space warfare. It also said China was improving its own satellite capability, including construction of a new satellite launching complex on Hainan Island.”
