China leads rise in Asia military spending: study

Defense spending in China and four other Asian countries doubled over 10 years and will surpass Europe's military expenditures this year, said the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington-based think tank.

Asia's arms race still leaves it trailing U.S. defense spending, but it will ensure the United States will likely stick to its plan to shift the country's strategic focus towards the Asia-Pacific region, it said.

Defense spending in China, India, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan reached a total of US$224 billion in 2011, which “equates to almost twice the amount spent by these five countries in 2000,” said the CSIS study.

“With Asian defense spending projected to overtake that of Europe by the end of 2012, the United States' posture rebalancing toward the Asia-Pacific region is likely to continue,” it said.

In 2005, China's military budget outstripped Japan's as the largest in Asia and recorded a 13.4-percent annual rise that year.

Among all countries, China now ranks second behind the United States in total military spending, though the Pentagon budget still dwarfs Beijing's defense spending at more than US$600 billion a year.

Experts say China's emergence as a global economic giant has driven the spike in military spending, as Beijing seeks to assert its influence beyond its borders to safeguard its access to sea lanes and resources.

In 2011, Beijing spent US$25.8 billion on new weapons and related research and development, up from US$7.3 billion in 2000, the report said.

China's total defense budget grew from US$22.5 billion to US$89.9 billion between 2000 and 2011, said the report, citing official figures from the Beijing government.

But the study acknowledged that independent estimates put Chinese spending at a much higher level, with the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute estimating Beijing's 2011 defense budget at US$142.2 billion.

India's defense spending grew 47.6 percent over the decade, reaching US$37 billion in 2011. Japan's military budget rose from US$40 billion to US$58.2 billion.

South Korea's defense investments swelled from US$17 billion to US$29 billion, while Taiwan's defense budget expanded at a slower pace, from US$8 billion in 2000 to US$10 billion in 2011.

Apart from Japan, which spent US$238,000 per soldier in 2011, the four other countries devoted US$28,000 to US$44,000 to training, paying and equipping each of its soldiers, the study said.

“This discrepancy was predominantly caused by the small size of the Japanese forces, approximately 244,300 troops in 2011, relative to the other countries,” it said.

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