| > China spends a mere 1.9% of its GDP in 2016 > BTW Japan's PM has just submitted his 2018 Military Budget and if approved would be the 6th "straight annual increase" China's 2016 GDP was 11.2 Trillion USD and their Military budget was 1.9% or 212 Billion USD. Japan's 2016 GDP was 4.9 Trillion USD and their Military budget was 0.9% or 44 Billion USD. Japan spends 20% of what China does. Part of Japan's military spending goes directly towards maintaining US Military Bases in Japan. Starting in 2019 they won't pay to maintain US bases AND their budget will be limited to 0.8% of GDP. (See your own article for reference) Let's also not forget that Japanese constitution currently forbids them from using their military to settle international disputes.[0] In other words Japan can't attack or declare war on anyone and their military can only be used for defensive purposes. > Can you elaborate more on why China's increasing military budget is a disturbing sign to you? China is propping up North Korea[1] who launches ICBMs over Japan for fun.[2] China and Russia are holding naval military exercises in Japan's backyard.[3] China has been building up it's Navy. China has become increasingly aggressive in territorial disputes with others. China and Japan have a territorial dispute.[6] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_9_of_the_Japanese_Cons... [1] https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2014/12/when-will-chi... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_North_Korean_missile_t... [3] https://www.cnn.com/2016/09/12/asia/china-russia-south-china... [4] https://globalsecurityreview.com/china-rapidly-bolstering-na... [5] https://www.nytimes.com/topic/destination/chinas-territorial... [6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senkaku_Islands_dispute |