China Boosts Defense Budget

In a time when the U.S. is reducing its military spending, China on Sunday announced that it is boosting its defense budget by 11.2 percent this year to $110 billion. There was already a 12.7 percent increase in 2011, and spending has grown by double digits nearly consistently over the past two decades. Li Zhaoxing, spokesman for China’s Parliament, said the world has nothing to fear in the rapid buildup. “You can see that we have 1.3 billion people with a large land areas and a long coastline, but our outlays on defense are quite low compared to other major countries,” Li said, suggesting that the Pentagon spends far more each year.