China to double budgeted military spending this year
WASHINGTON: China is more than doubling its budgeted defence spending this year as part of an aggressive military modernization strategy, including deterring any moves by Taiwan to declare independence, the Pentagon said. China’s official defence budget in 2004 is more than 25 billion dollars. But when off-budget funding for foreign weapons system imports is included, total defence-related expenditures this year should soar to between 50 and 70 billion dollars, said Richard Lawless, the deputy undersecretary of defence.
This would rank China third in defence spending after the United States and Russia, he told a Senate hearing where China’s military reforms were discussed. Lawless, who handles security affairs in the Asia-Pacific, said that China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) had stepped up its modernisation plan in recent years to prepare against any separation moves by Taiwan.
"In recent years, the PLA accelerated reform and modernisation so as to have a variety of credible military options to deter moves by Taiwan toward permanent separation or, if required, to compel by force the integration of Taiwan under mainland authority," he said.
China claims Taiwan as part of its territory despite a split 55 years ago at the end of a civil war, and has said it would invade if the island declared independence or descended into chaos.
The United States is Taiwan’s biggest ally and arms supplier and is bound by law to provide weapons to help Taiwan defend itself if the island’s security is threatened. But Washington also acknowledges Beijing’s position that Taiwan is part of China.
Lawless said PLA’s determined focus on preparing for conflict in the Taiwan Strait "raises serious doubts over Beijing’s declared policy of seeking ‘peaceful reunification’ under the ‘one country, two systems’ model." He said conventional missile operations was among key areas of reform of the Chinese military. Beijing’s growing conventional missile force provides a strategic capability "without the political and practical constraints associated with nuclear-armed missiles."
"The PLA’s short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) provide a survivable and effective conventional strike force and represent a real-time coercive option," he said.
China continues to improve the capabilities of its conventionally armed SRBM force. Some 500 to 550 SRBMs are deployed opposite Taiwan, increasing at a rate of 75 a year, Lawless said, adding that the "accuracy and lethality" of this force also were expected to increase through use of satellite-aided guidance systems.
Meanwhile in Brussels European Union is still far from deciding whether to raise a 15 year-old embargo on arms deliveries to China, sources close to the EU presidency said on Friday, citing internal differences over the issue. Last week the EU rebuffed China’s demands for an end to the embargo in place since the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing when China sent in tanks to break pro-democracy protests, killing hundreds. "We’re being quite frank that we’re still a good distance away from achieving unanimity, " said the sources, ruling out an decision at an EU foreign ministers’ session next Monday and Tuesday in Luxembourg.
Irish Foreign Minister Brian Cowen, whose country holds the EU’s rotating presidency, told Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing last week that the embargo would stay in place at least until this summer.
EU leaders had agreed last December to review the ban after France said the embargo had outlived its usefulness. But a number of member states argue China needs to do much more to safeguard human rights. Diplomatic sources say Denmark and Britain in particular do not believe the moment is opportune to end the ban. Others, including Sweden and the Netherlands, fear reactions from their parliaments and domestic public opinion, the sources added. Europe also faces pressure from the United States, which firmly opposes ending the embargo. But a French source said here on Friday France would not give up, reiterating France’s view that the embargo was outdated.
China is modernising its armed forces in line with its growing economic and technological clout, potentially opening up lucrative new markets for foreign arms companies. But during a visit to Beijing this month, European Commission President Romano Prodi said more efforts were needed first to improve human rights in China.
Chinese missiles believed to be capable of hitting U.S. military bases in Okinawa, Japan.
The senior Pentagon official acknowledged China's near-term focus is Taiwan, where the re-election of President Chen Shui-bian has heightened Beijing's fears that the self-governing island may declare independence.
But "there is something much broader and more fundamental going on here," he said.
China is pursuing a "comprehensive, well-planned, well-executed transformation" of all sectors -- including weapons, tactics, doctrine and training -- and could be a world class military force in 10 to 15 years, the official said. #msg-3201856
This is why, in my opinion, the United States has urged Japan to rethink its collective defense ban.
The Japanese government should modify its interpretation of the country's constitutional right to collective self-defense to allow it to share information with the United States over the operation of missile defense systems, a U.S. Defense Department official said on condition of anonymity Friday.
The official told reporters that the threats faced by Japan today differ from those faced when the Japanese government decided to prohibit exercising its right to collective self-defense. The short flight time of missiles aimed at Japan would mean there is little time for decision-making, he said. #msg-2705842
China defends huge military buildup
PRC blasts United States for deteriorating cross-strait situation, making 'irresponsible' comments to Taiwan 2004-06-01 / Agence France-Presse /
China defended yesterday its aggressive military build-up to prevent Taiwan seeking independence and blamed the United States for the deteriorating state of cross-Strait ties.
A commentary by the official Xinhua news agency lashed out at the United States for criticizing China for developing a variety of "credible military options" to prevent Taiwan from achieving independence.
The U.S. Department of Defense had also warned in a new report that China was finding ways to discourage the United States from coming to the island's aid in event of a conflict with the People's Republic of China.
"Just because a handful of people inside and outside the island are still seeking 'Taiwan independence,' China cannot make a commitment to renouncing the use of force for realizing national reunification and has had to make necessary and limited military deployment," the Xinhua commentary said.
China has approximately 500 short-range ballistic missiles deployed in Nanjing military district and pointed at Taiwan.
The U.S. report said that if equipped with adequate guidance systems, the missiles could destroy key Taiwanese leadership facilities, military bases and communication and transportation nodes with minimal advanced warning. Some of these weapons are believed to be capable of hitting U.S. military bases in Okinawa, Japan.
Ground forces targeting Taiwan include three army groups deployed in Nanjing that have a plethora of special operations units.
China is also investing in new military aircraft, said the report, which was an annual assessment of China's capabilities.
Xinhua said, "If the United States really wants to help maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits, it should not have made irresponsible remarks on China's military deployment and used it as an excuse to keep selling advanced weapons to Taiwan."
The United States has no diplomatic ties with Taiwan but is its largest arms supplier and has vowed to defend the island if it is attacked.
Xinhua argued that rather than China's missile build-up, it was Washington's arms sales that had pushed the Taiwan Straits to the "brink of danger."
"Washington argues that the purpose of selling weapons to Taiwan is to assure Taiwan authorities that they could conduct dialogues with the mainland in 'a safer position,'" said Xinhua.
"But due to the support and connivance of the United States, Taiwan authorities have gone further down the road toward 'independence' and the United States is responsible for the current worsening situation across the Taiwan Straits."
While President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), has taken a more conciliatory stance since winning a new four-year term in March, Beijing has maintained its rhetoric.
Irked by a recent U.S. decision to grant a transit visa to Taiwan Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), the Xinhua commentary also called on Washington to "end official-style exchanges with the island in any form immediately."
"Any attempt to separate Taiwan from China is doomed to fail and Taiwan will eventually be reunited with its motherland," said Xinhua.
"The United States should sober-mindedly understand this."
The broadside was delivered barely a day after President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) told his U.S. counterpart George W. Bush in a telephone conversation to "not send wrong signals to the Taiwan authorities."
During the talks, Bush said the United States would adhere to the "One China" policy and oppose any independence moves by Taiwan, Chinese media reported.
GETTING BETTER: The PLA has long been a joke as a fighting force but, with new technology and serious training, it might be becoming formidable
REUTERS , Tokyo Wednesday, Jul 07, 2004,
Japanese government defense white paper
China's increasingly high-tech military capabilities need to be watched closely, along with Beijing's marine research near Japan's exclusive economic zone, the Japanese government said in a defense white paper yesterday.
"China is seeking to shift the emphasis in its military forces from `quantity' to `quality,' moving to a position where it will have a nucleus of regular forces capable of coping with modern warfare," the annual report said.
"China has been modernizing its nuclear and missile forces as well as its naval and air forces. Careful deliberation should go into determining whether the objective of this modernization exceeds the scope necessary for the defense of China, and future developments in this area merit special attention," it added.
Japan has repeatedly expressed concern about China's marine research near waters Tokyo says are its exclusive economic zone.
Diplomatic sparring between the two Asian neighbors over an island group in the East China Sea -- known as the Senkakus in Japan and the Diaoyutai in China -- flared up in March, when Japan arrested and detained seven Chinese who had landed on one.
The report -- which comes as Japan's military marks the 50th anniversary of its postwar restructuring -- reiterated that North Korea's missile and nuclear programs posed a security threat.
Outlining Japan's plans to introduce a missile defense system, the report said Tokyo might need to review its decades-old self-imposed ban on weapons exports as the result of technical research with the United States in that area.
Japan's military is undergoing the most sweeping review of its forces in five decades to cope with new threats and a report is due out later this year.
Japan needed to develop effective responses to such threats, re-examine traditional notions on infrastructure and equipment, and seek to modify the scale of its forces while bearing in mind the capabilities needed to meet a full-scale invasion, the white paper said.
On North Korea, the report noted efforts by the US, South Korea, Japan, Russia and China to persuade Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear programs, including a uranium enrichment programme which the North has denied exists.
Analysts have said a door creaked open at talks in Beijing last month, with the first real sign of negotiations after Washington offered security guarantees and South Korea aid if Pyongyang agreed to dismantle its nuclear programs.
The report said North Korea was a threat not just to Japan.
"Taken together with its suspected nuclear weapons program, North Korea's development and deployment of ballistic missiles constitute a destabilizing factor for the international community as a whole and have generated intense anxiety," the paper said.
In 1998 North Korea fired a ballistic missile over Japan, prompting Tokyo to improve its missile defense and intelligence gathering capabilities, leading to the launch last year of its first two spy satellites.
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