China’s $90 billion for weapons, including nuclear, in 2011

Chinese Defense Budget Boost Seen Aiding Nuclear Force, NTI: Global Security Newswire – March 7, 2011 China on Friday announced it had set aside roughly $90 billion in defense funds for 2011, a 12.7 percent boost over the nation’s declared 2010 defense budget, the Asahi Shimbun reported (see GSN, March 3).The People’s Liberation Army’s Second Artillery Corps, which oversees China’s strategic nuclear force, would benefit significantly from the additional spending, one military insider said. “Along with the second artillery (the strategic missile unit), the navy also received preferential budget treatment,” the source said……..NTI: Global Security Newswire – Chinese Defense Budget Boost Seen Aiding Nuclear Force

March 7, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | China, weapons and war | Leave a comment

China’s nuclear arsenal small – but transparency is needed

The driving force in U.S.-Russia nuclear arms reduction and control is that transparency fosters predictability and minimizes the risk of a terrible war by miscalculation. A similar pact must be in the interests of China, India, Pakistan — and the rest of Asia.

Why worry about China’s nuclear warheads?, The Japan Times Online, By MICHAEL RICHARDSON, 3 March, 11, SINGAPORE — Latest estimates by Western analysts put China’s stockpile at 240 warheads, with 175 in active mode and 65 in reserve or waiting to be dismantled because they are considered too old for use.

This is a small arsenal compared with those of the United States and Russia. Continue reading →

March 4, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | China, weapons and war | Leave a comment

China’s secret ambition for unlimited nuclear weapons growth – Wikileaks

Chinese officials privately admit that a desire for military advantage underpins continuing secrecy.

No nuclear limit: China, The Age, Philip Dorling, February 28, 2011 HIGH-RANKING Chinese officials have declared that there can be no limit to the expansion of Beijing’s nuclear arsenal, amid growing regional fears that it will eventually equal that of the United States, with profound consequences for the strategic balance in Asia. Continue reading →

March 1, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | China, weapons and war | Leave a comment

China’s top military planners calculate for many millions of dead Chinese

the Chinese are planning to pile up a bulwark of irradiated corpses. “We […] will prepare ourselves for the destruction of all of the cities east of Xi’an,” said the general. “Of course the Americans will have to be prepared that hundreds … of cities will be destroyed by the Chinese.”

This is how countries convince themselves to prepare for war.

Why we’re all up in arms over China, Sydney Morning Herald, John Birmingham , February 8, 2011 “……Politics as it is practised at the rareified levels where states manoeuvre for advantage against each other simply doesn’t factor into the thoughts of normal people.Until they pay the price for not having paid attention over all those years.. Continue reading →

February 8, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | China, weapons and war | Leave a comment

China militarising – like everyone else

Why we’re all up in arms over China, Sydney Morning Herald, John Birmingham , February 8, 2011 Governments around the Pacific are preparing for war with China. Not next week. Or next year. Or even any time this decade. But the slow, horrible train wreck of billions of human beings doggedly digging themselves into entrenched and hostile positions is well underway. We’re deep into this hole now. Continue reading →

February 8, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | China, weapons and war | Leave a comment