Skip to main content

Home/ Geopolitics Weekly/ Group items tagged People's Liberation Army

Rss Feed Group items tagged

Filter: All | Bookmarks | Topics Simple Middle
Pedro Gonçalves

BBC News - China slows rise in military spending - 0 views

news.bbc.co.uk/...8548803.stm

China Military

shared by Pedro Gonçalves on 04 Mar 10 - Cached
  • China has said its military spending will increase by 7.5% in 2010, ending a long run of double-digit growth.It will spend 532.1bn yuan ($77.9bn:£51.7bn) over the year, the spokesman of the country's annual parliamentary session announced.
  • According to Chinese figures, this is the first time in more than 20 years that the military budget increase has dipped below 10%.
  • The spending spree began in the late 1980s, when China embarked on an ambitious programme to upgrade its armed forces. Since then it has bought and produced its own high-tech weapons, and reduced the number of personnel in an attempt to have fewer, but better trained, troops. Salaries and other benefits for officers and ordinary soldiers have also been improved.
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • Previous large spending increases could explain the smaller increase this year. "China has achieved its targets in the past by providing continuous double-digit budget increases," said Andrew Yang, an expert on China's military who is now Taiwan's deputy defence minister.
  • Many experts believe the actual amount spent by China on its armed forces is far higher than the published amount.
  • In a recently published book, called The China Dream, a senior officer in China's People's Liberation Army said the country should aim to build a major military force that could challenge the US this century. Other officers attending the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), an advisory body that holds a meeting at the same time as the parliamentary session, rejected that idea.
Pedro Gonçalves

China's military warns of confrontation over seas | Reuters - 0 views

uk.reuters.com/...lippines-idUKBRE83L00P20120422

China US Philippines South China Sea

shared by Pedro Gonçalves on 22 Apr 12 - No Cached
  • "Anyone with clear eyes saw long ago that behind these drills is reflected a mentality that will lead the South China Sea issue down a fork in the road towards military confrontation and resolution through armed force," said the commentary in the Chinese paper, which is the chief mouthpiece of the People's Liberation Army."Through this kind of meddling and intervention, the United States will only stir up the entire South China Sea situation towards increasing chaos, and this will inevitably have a massive impact on regional peace and stability."
  • In past patches of tension over disputed seas, hawkish Chinese military voices have also risen, only to be reined in later by the government. The same could be true this time.
  • experts have said China remains wary of U.S. military intentions across the Asia-Pacific, especially after the Obama administration's vows to "pivot" to the region, reinvigorating diplomatic and security ties with allies.
Pedro Gonçalves

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | US 'opposes' nuclear North Korea - 0 views

news.bbc.co.uk/...8074937.stm

US North Korea China Robert Gates

shared by Pedro Gonçalves on 30 May 09 - Cached
  • The US "will not accept" a nuclear-armed North Korea, Defence Secretary Robert Gates has told an Asian summit.
  • The US "will not accept" a nuclear-armed North Korea, Defence Secretary Robert Gates has told an Asian summit.Mr Gates said the US would "not stand idly by as North Korea builds the capability to wreak destruction on any target in the region or on us".
  • Earlier, the US said activity in the North could indicate plans for a new long-range missile test.
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • "We will not stand idly by as North Korea builds the capability to wreak destruction on any target in the region or on us," Mr Gates added. However, he said he did not consider North Korea to be a direct military threat to the US "at this point". He insisted the next step in negating Pyongyang's ambitions would be political, not military.
  • Some of Mr Gates' words were echoed by Ma Xiaotian, deputy chief of general staff of China's People's Liberation Army. "Our stand on the issue is consistent. We are resolutely opposed to nuclear proliferation. "Our view is that the Korean peninsula should move towards denuclearisation," Mr Ma told the summit. "Our hope is that all parties concerned will remain cool-headed and take measures to address the problem."
  • Before Mr Gates spoke, defence officials in Washington said US satellite photos had revealed vehicle activity at a site in North Korea used to fire long-range missiles.
  • On Friday, Pyongyang also fired a short-range missile off its east coast, and warned of "self-defence" measures if the UN Security Council imposed sanctions over what it says was a successful nuclear test carried out earlier in the week.
  • The hardline communist state, under President Kim Jong-il, has threatened military action against the South after Seoul's decision to join a US-led Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), under which North Korean ships could be stopped and searched. US and South Korean troops are currently on high alert after the North said it was no longer bound by the truce that ended the Korean war in 1953. Pyongyang says Seoul's decision to join the PSI is tantamount to an act of war.
1 - 5 of 5
Showing 20▼ items per page