Military spending by Asia’s major powers increased dramatically over the past decade with China leading the way, as its defence budget quadrupled since 2000, according to a study.
Defence spending in China and four other Asian countries doubled over 10 years and will surpass Europe’s military expenditures this year, said the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank, on Monday.
Asia’s arms race still leaves it trailing US defence spending, but it will ensure the United States likely will stick to its plan to shift the country’s strategic focus towards the Asia-Pacific region, it said.
“With Asian defence spending projected to overtake that of Europe by the end of this year, 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 per cent 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 defence spending at more than US$600 billion year.