The Moscow-Beijing Axis: Su-35 Purchase Raises Questions About China’s Defense Spending, Threat to Taiwan

Reports of a Chinese purchase of advanced Russian fighter aircraft are raising new questions about the true levels of defense spending in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), while also highlighting concerns about the military standing of Taiwan in a potential cross-strait conflict.

The Chinese government announced prior to last month’s National People’s Congress that PRC defense spending would increase another 11.2 per cent in 2012 to 670 billion yuan (U.S. $106 billion).

This is a “minuscule” fraction of the nation’s economy, some diplomats and intelligence officers said.

“If you believe these official defense spending numbers, then you accept that the PRC are spending only about 1.4 per cent of their GNP on defense, which is just not at all realistic,” one diplomat said.

Reports of an impending Chinese purchase of Russian jets seem to confirm such suspicions. Read More