China's military spending in perspective...

A report by the US Defence Department has reported that China will spend between $85 and $125 billion on its defence in 2007, not the £45 billion the Chinese Government has officially reported. This, the report says, could indicate a shift in China’s military strategy away from a focus on Taiwan to a wider scope.

Of course what the report fails to do, is compare this figure to the US own spending. For the fiscal year starting in October 2007 George Bush has requested $484 billion to spend on defence, a figure which does not include military spending in Afghanistan and Iraq. This is nearly 4 times the $125 billion higher end figure the US estimates for China’s spending.

China has a population of 1,306,313,800 and the US of 299,114,218. Therefore China’s spending per head is $96.69 compared to the US $1618.11. That’s 16.7 times more per head the US spends on defence. I wonder which country we should really be worrying about?