Ruag
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Military hunger
Military hunger
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With so much skepticism and suspicion in East Asia over China's true intentions, India has plenty of opportunity and scope to expand military ties with other like-minded countries in the region.
And these are right steps by India in the right direction --
'Look East' policy: PM to visit Vietnam, Japan, Malaysia
Japan, India to sign free trade agreement
India, South Korea ink two MOUs to boost defence cooperation
With Taiwan to the east and Central Asia to the west, the Indian Ocean to the south and Russia to the north, China is gaining military weight in its center. Economic growth on the one hand and military expenditure on the other are making Beijing a new superpower that wants to be respected and perhaps feared. Neighbors like India, Korea and even nominal allies like Russia are beginning to doubt China’s intentions.
Since "conquering" the South China Sea with the flag on its ground, other Southeast Asian countries are upset too. Is China’s military appetite turning into a carnivore hunger?
In mid-August, the Pentagon published a report on China’s military. Between 2000 and 2009 Beijing’s military expenditure increased in average 11.8 percent per year. In 2009, China spent some $150 billion for its defense.
Apart from intensifying efforts in space-travel and cyber war, Beijing is building new battleships, aircraft-carriers as well as submarines, in short: a deep-sea navy equipped with nuclear heads with a range of up to 11,200 km. Envisaging Central-Asia, India and Russia, a missile defense belt was implemented.
Is there reason to fear China’s assertiveness? There are plenty of reasons to respect it. It is well established that the Middle Kingdom is looking for its place in the world. Economic ascension leads to political power ― see Beijing acting in Asia and Africa ― to cultural aspirations ― see the Olympics and the world exhibition ― and to military assertiveness. This set, China’s military appetite is a logical consequence of its position in today’s world economy.
However, this process makes many of its neighbors feel uneasy about the future, since China uses its military assets in open pursuit of its own goals. Almost all other countries in Asia are skeptical of Chinese military hunger because the memory of Beijing’s empire is too fresh.
Whose business is security?
The press always devotes more room to growth than to size; also in military matters. So, China has been in the focus, but the U.S. still has a military budget of $700 billion, more than four times bigger than China’s.
Beijing is still modernizing its armed forces but the U.S. already has a modern one, hence some 10 percent of that budget is destined for research and development. The US has more than 70,000 soldiers stationed in the Pacific, an aircraft-carrier (USS Ronald Reagan) in Japan, allies like Korea, Japan, Australia, Philippines and Thailand and security partners such as Singapore. Out of this position, it can safeguard a balance of power with China on a macro-level.
However, on micro-level, each country is its own security guard. South Korea has continuously increased its military spending since 2000 at a rate higher than conventional explanations would expect. Its spending grew 200 percent for the past 10 years, higher than would be warranted by the growth of its economy or government budget over the same period. 26.6 trillion won in 2009: Last year’s spending represents a twofold increase from ten years ago; and now the Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) Defense Reform 2020 projects an annual average increase of 7.6 percent to 53.3 trillion won by 2020, another doubling over the next decade.
Is this enough to contain China? Probably not! But wanting to stop an ascending economic power from establishing itself in the different realms of statehood is a somewhat unrealistic dream. The idea for dealing with Beijing’s appetite is to acknowledge it as such and at the same time taming it, thus preventing it from turning into voracious hunger. This seems to be doable with a combination of strategies.
First, on symbolic level, "courageous” actions by China like the South China Sea incident have to be openly criticized. It is the Middle Kingdom’s aim to operate at the symbolic level, i.e. to show its intentions. The appropriate reaction is to show that those intentions have been understood ― and rejected.
Second, devoting a substantial proportion of one’s budget to the military works on two different levels: On a symbolic level it signalizes the assessment of the current situation. On a practical level it raises the security level of a country and at the same time makes the country attractive for others as an ally or partner. This effect is especially enhanced if the military spending goes to research and development.
Third, alliances always help to establish the scope and scale of a maneuver. Being in the defensive position, i.e. facing a network of coordinated nations, is not a place Beijing likes to be since it has aspirations to take on a leading role. Through this mechanism and at a very long term perspective, it could even be possible to engage China in a constructive security dialogue in the region.
With economic, political and military growth, responsibility increases, too.
Military hunger
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With so much skepticism and suspicion in East Asia over China's true intentions, India has plenty of opportunity and scope to expand military ties with other like-minded countries in the region.
And these are right steps by India in the right direction --
'Look East' policy: PM to visit Vietnam, Japan, Malaysia
Japan, India to sign free trade agreement
India, South Korea ink two MOUs to boost defence cooperation
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