China Challenge -- & -- A Sober Second Look at Canada's Defense Budget

CHINA CHALLENGE

CHINA CHALLENGE Mar. 14, 05, Peter Brookes, New York Post

Peter Brookes is a Heritage Foundation senior fellow.

March 14, 2005 -- BEIJING will be the last stop on Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's latest globetrot to six Asian countries this week — but you can be sure it will be her top priority.

[. . . . ] By far the greatest concern is China's military buildup. Buttressed by double-digit defense budget growth for 14 years in a row, including a 13 percent bump-up this year, China now has the world's second largest defense budget at $65 billion.

[. . . . ] Nowhere is there more anxiety than in Taiwan [. . . . ]

Excitement over new defence spending fades Stephen Thorne, Mar. 12, 05

OTTAWA (CP) - The initial exultation over military spending promises in last month's federal budget is giving way to sober second thought by some in the defence community.

Upon closer scrutiny, the government's promise of $12.8 billion in new spending over five years may not be all it's cracked up to be, say observers.

For at least the next three years, spending - adjusted for inflation - will still be well below peak levels in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

And there are no guarantees the minority Liberal government will be around to keep the promises, or that the economy that must support the spending increases will hold up.

Experts also note that much of the anticipated money is tied to a defence policy statement that hasn't been released yet. [. . . . ]

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