FOLLOW US
China’s growing defense budget seems to be a perpetual topic for speculation, interpretation, and allegations. Based on analysis from Xiao Tiefeng, China’s defense budget is neither growing excessively fast, nor is it extraordinarily large, nor is it a threatening factor to international peace.
The state of security in Northeast Asia will be counteractive to the state of Sino-US relations. Thus, increased cooperation in Northeast Asia will also provide a favorable opportunity and important platform to cultivate a new type of relations between China and the United States.
As the United States continues its rebalance toward the Asia-Pacific, Southeast Asian nations continue to rely upon US influence and military strength to counterbalance China. However, China’s regional power continues to grow and the economic incentives for aligning with China far outweigh those pushing nations toward the US.
Recently, US foreign policy experts have argued that China’s military power presents major implications for the US and Japan’s ability to maintain regional stability. However, Stephen Harner argues the US and Japan must recognize the changing geopolitical landscape in the Asia-Pacific and recognize the dangers of the current security order.
Following General Fang Fenghui’s comments comparing a major cyber attack to a nuclear bomb, Franz-Stefan Gady discusses the consequences of cyber warfare in the twenty-first century.
Officials in the George W. Bush as well as Barack Obama administrations have argued that China’s military budget is excessive for the country’s legitimate defense needs. But US military spending is much higher than that of China or any other country.
2011 China-United States Exchange Foundation. All rights reserved.
Disclaimer
Thank you for visiting China US Focus. We are working to improve the site, and hope you will take a few minutes to complete this anonymous survey. Your valuable opinions are most appreciated.
