Is China's Military Modernization a Threat to the United States?
POLICY FORUMMonday, September 9, 2002
11:00 a.m.
Featuring David Shambaugh, George Washington University; Bernard Cole, National War College; and Ross H. Munro, Center for Security Studies.
The Cato Institute
1000 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001
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Both the Pentagon and the congressionally mandated U.S.-China Commission have recently issued reports implying that increased Chinese military spending and the military modernization it funds are growing threats to the United States. Certainly, the official Chinese defense budget does not reflect fully what China spends on its military. So how much do the Chinese actually spend on their armed forces? What is the current state of the Chinese military, and how rapid is its modernization? How does China’s defense budget compare with the amount spent by America and other nations in East Asia? How do China’s defense budget increases and military modernization compare to that of the United States and East Asian states? What are the strategic goals of China’s military modernization? Are those goals likely to be a threat to the United States?