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Beijing’s Growing Military Brawn
Posted by Randy | November 22, 2010

This week CQ Weekly featured an article highlighting Beijing’s growing military brawn and apparent plans to apply it in the Pacific region.  China’s military budget has tripled in the past decade, growing much faster than the country’s red hot gross domestic product.

 
 

There are a lot of questions that this growth raises: What does this mean for China’s growing military ambitions?  How should this affect the size and structure of U.S. forces in the Western Pacific?  How should this affect defense spending more broadly?

As a nation, we need to be looking at these issues intently. As founder and chairman of the Congressional China Caucus, I am seeking to answer these very questions through hearings, briefings, and other events. The Caucus is a bipartisan group of Members of Congress who share a common interest in the emergence of China as a political, economic and military actor on both the regional and global stage. The Caucus regularly looks at a number of issues including military/shipbuilding, economy/trade, intellectual property, energy/resources and human rights/religious freedoms.

If you want to stay updated on China and the activities of the Congressional China Caucus, you can sign up for email updates – just check the “China” issue box.

 

 
Comments
The opinions expressed below are those of their respective authors and do not necessarily represent those of this office.
  • martin byrne commented on 11/25/2010
    I think our energy policy should emphacise the improvement and maximize the efficiency of the energy resources we now have. The shift of federal support to undeveloped source such as wind,solar,etc. is not in the interest of the country. Right now our federal dollars are skewed in favor of the latter.We should concentrate on developing oil,coal and gas resources. The exotic development should be left to private industry investment.
  • Jack Sorroche commented on 11/27/2010
    Congressman Forbes, It is very refreshing to see an elected official such as yourself so involved not only with the local matters but the overall big picture as well. It seems as though China has been trying to quietly build up their military for many years. For you to notice this is a big reason to rethink the purposed 100 billion in military spending cuts. Peace through deterrence is always the best policy, but having a strong modernized military is paramount to keeping our country, its allays and its interests safe. Thank you for your time. Sincerely, Jack Sorroche
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