| China's Military Budget Worries US |  |
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| Thursday, 06 March 2008 | |
 US Defense Secretary Robert Gates says China's rise in military spending worries Washington. China said on Tuesday it will rise defense spending by nearly a fifth in 2008 to increase the pay of personnel, improve training and upgrade military equipment. The planned 2008 funding for the People's Liberation Army was $58.76 billion. The 17.6 percent rise this year from 2007 follows a 17.8 percent increase last year, China's largest in a decade. US officials regularly voice concern about the rapid rise in China's military spending, even as the annual US defense budget remains more than eight times larger. Gates claimed the concern was related to the size of the defense budget, the size of the increase, the programs being funded and the lack of transparency from Beijing on its military build-up. |
