China increases military budget by at least 17%

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Today the Pentagon released it annual report on the “Military Power of the People’s Republic of China.”

http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/pdfs/China_Military_Report_08.pdf

The document states communist China reported a military budget of over $45 billion, a 17.8 % increase over its 2007 budget. This figure continues the nation’s trend of increased military spending surpassing its GDP. Yet, the report states “Accurately estimating actual PLA military expenditures is a difficult process due to the lack transparency,” outside estimates calculate the real military-related budget as high as $139 billion for 2007. Among communist China’s focus, the PLA has invested in ballistic missiles, satellite weapons and cyber war fare technologies.