-Caveat Lector- WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! . Outlining plans for the next five years, Mr. Zhu said at the opening of the annual session of China's legislature, the National People's Congress, that the government would continue to pull out of the economy, allowing private stockholders to gain control of all but "strategic" industries and giving farmers new rights over the land. . Analysts said that the statement was China's most formal endorsement yet of two policies that have been opposed by more ideologically rigid factions of the Communist Party. . But Mr. Zhu also said that China would continue to subsidize rural incomes by purchasing grain "without limit" at artificially high prices - a key sticking point in China's negotiations to join the World Trade Organization. . He also said that China would issue $18 billion in bonds this year to fund infrastructure projects in the nation's impoverished west, some of which economists believe are of dubious value. Expansion Is Response to 'Drastic Changes' in World Situation BEIJING Seeking to cope with what it calls "the drastic changes in the military situation around the world," China plans to increase its defense spending this year by 17.7 percent, its biggest military expansion in the last 20 years, China's government has decided. . A copy of a speech to be given Tuesday by Finance Minister Xiang Huaicheng said the increase would be mainly used for raises for officers, enlisted men, and "to meet the drastic changes in the military situation of the world and prepare for defense and combat given the conditions of modern technology, especially high technology." . The military spending increase, which dwarfs the yearly increases of the last decade, comes at time when China is experiencing no inflation and facing a record budget deficit - thereby making the expansion all the more significant. . Mr. Xiang said the 2001 publicly acknowledged military budget would reach $17.195 billion - higher than that of India, Taiwan and South Korea. Most analysts say they believe the real figure is at least three times as high, bringing China almost on par with Japan at $45 billion. "This is the biggest increase I have ever seen," said James Mulvenon, a specialist on Chinese security at Rand Corp., noting that larger percentage increases in the mid-90s came as China's economy faced runaway inflation. "In an environment of increasing central budget deficits and continuing revenue problems, these types of increases highlight the amount of fiscal pain China's leadership is willing to endure to maintain the loyalty of the military." . The ballooning budget reflects a mix of several complicated factors, including these: . •The increasing belief that China must prepare for a conflict with the United States if it wants to recover Taiwan. . •The sense that the People's Liberation Army is falling behind in the race for a high-tech military. . •The military's realization that it must pay higher salaries and train more if it wants to be a force in the world. . •The government's attempts to make up for the shortfall in the military's budget after it forced the army to divest itself of most of its business interests in 1998. . Mr. Mulvenon said the Kosovo bombing campaign, in which air power and missiles alone forced the Yugoslavia Army out of Kosovo, was a major catalyst for the budget increase - the second major shock after the Gulf War to the People's Liberation Army in 10 years. The allied victory, without a casualty, constituted a major part of the "drastic changes" in the world's military situation, enunciated by Mr. Xiang. . Mr. Mulvenon added, "If the Gulf War was the wake-up call for the PLA, then Kosovo was the snooze alarm telling them it's really time to get going." . Underlying this concern, analysts said, is the view, spelled out in China's defense white paper issued in October last year, that the United States now constitutes China's main threat and is a roadblock on China's way to achieve regional military supremacy and reunification with Taiwan - the island of 23 million people that Beijing says belongs to China. . That document accused Washington of "practicing a new 'gunboat policy' and neo-economic colonialism" and remarked that the U.S. plan to create a shield against missiles would seriously stabilize the security of the Asia-Pacific region. . Money for foreign military purchases - about $1 billion a year - comes from an off-budget fund run by the Central Military Commission. Over the 1990s, China spent an estimated $6 billion on foreign military purchases; Taiwan during the same time frame spent $20 billion. . China Sets Reform Program . By Philip P. Pan of The Washington Post reported earlier from Beijing: . In a major policy address Monday, Prime Minister Zhu Rongji said that China would push forward with reforms targeting impoverished farmers and inefficient state factories, arguing that the nation's economy no longer could maintain the record growth it has enjoyed for the past two decades without tackling such "deep-seated problems." . Outlining plans for the next five years, Mr. Zhu said at the opening of the annual session of China's legislature, the National People's Congress, that the government would continue to pull out of the economy, allowing private stockholders to gain control of all but "strategic" industries and giving farmers new rights over the land. . Analysts said that the statement was China's most formal endorsement yet of two policies that have been opposed by more ideologically rigid factions of the Communist Party. . But Mr. Zhu also said that China would continue to subsidize rural incomes by purchasing grain "without limit" at artificially high prices - a key sticking point in China's negotiations to join the World Trade Organization. . He also said that China would issue $18 billion in bonds this year to fund infrastructure projects in the nation's impoverished west, some of which economists believe are of dubious value. Expansion Is Response to 'Drastic Changes' in World Situation BEIJING Seeking to cope with what it calls "the drastic changes in the military situation around the world," China plans to increase its defense spending this year by 17.7 percent, its biggest military expansion in the last 20 years, China's government has decided. . A copy of a speech to be given Tuesday by Finance Minister Xiang Huaicheng said the increase would be mainly used for raises for officers, enlisted men, and "to meet the drastic changes in the military situation of the world and prepare for defense and combat given the conditions of modern technology, especially high technology." . The military spending increase, which dwarfs the yearly increases of the last decade, comes at time when China is experiencing no inflation and facing a record budget deficit - thereby making the expansion all the more significant. . Mr. Xiang said the 2001 publicly acknowledged military budget would reach $17.195 billion - higher than that of India, Taiwan and South Korea. Most analysts say they believe the real figure is at least three times as high, bringing China almost on par with Japan at $45 billion. "This is the biggest increase I have ever seen," said James Mulvenon, a specialist on Chinese security at Rand Corp., noting that larger percentage increases in the mid-90s came as China's economy faced runaway inflation. "In an environment of increasing central budget deficits and continuing revenue problems, these types of increases highlight the amount of fiscal pain China's leadership is willing to endure to maintain the loyalty of the military." . The ballooning budget reflects a mix of several complicated factors, including these: . •The increasing belief that China must prepare for a conflict with the United States if it wants to recover Taiwan. . •The sense that the People's Liberation Army is falling behind in the race for a high-tech military. . •The military's realization that it must pay higher salaries and train more if it wants to be a force in the world. . •The government's attempts to make up for the shortfall in the military's budget after it forced the army to divest itself of most of its business interests in 1998. . Mr. Mulvenon said the Kosovo bombing campaign, in which air power and missiles alone forced the Yugoslavia Army out of Kosovo, was a major catalyst for the budget increase - the second major shock after the Gulf War to the People's Liberation Army in 10 years. The allied victory, without a casualty, constituted a major part of the "drastic changes" in the world's military situation, enunciated by Mr. Xiang. . Mr. Mulvenon added, "If the Gulf War was the wake-up call for the PLA, then Kosovo was the snooze alarm telling them it's really time to get going." . Underlying this concern, analysts said, is the view, spelled out in China's defense white paper issued in October last year, that the United States now constitutes China's main threat and is a roadblock on China's way to achieve regional military supremacy and reunification with Taiwan - the island of 23 million people that Beijing says belongs to China. . That document accused Washington of "practicing a new 'gunboat policy' and neo-economic colonialism" and remarked that the U.S. plan to create a shield against missiles would seriously stabilize the security of the Asia-Pacific region. . Money for foreign military purchases - about $1 billion a year - comes from an off-budget fund run by the Central Military Commission. Over the 1990s, China spent an estimated $6 billion on foreign military purchases; Taiwan during the same time frame spent $20 billion. . China Sets Reform Program . By Philip P. Pan of The Washington Post reported earlier from Beijing: . In a major policy address Monday, Prime Minister Zhu Rongji said that China would push forward with reforms targeting impoverished farmers and inefficient state factories, arguing that the nation's economy no longer could maintain the record growth it has enjoyed for the past two decades without tackling such "deep-seated problems." . Outlining plans for the next five years, Mr. Zhu said at the opening of the annual session of China's legislature, the National People's Congress, that the government would continue to pull out of the economy, allowing private stockholders to gain control of all but "strategic" industries and giving farmers new rights over the land. . Analysts said that the statement was China's most formal endorsement yet of two policies that have been opposed by more ideologically rigid factions of the Communist Party. . But Mr. Zhu also said that China would continue to subsidize rural incomes by purchasing grain "without limit" at artificially high prices - a key sticking point in China's negotiations to join the World Trade Organization. . He also said that China would issue $18 billion in bonds this year to fund infrastructure projects in the nation's impoverished west, some of which economists believe are of dubious value. *COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for nonprofit research and educational purposes only.[Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ] Want to be on our lists? Write at [EMAIL PROTECTED] for a menu of our lists! <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. 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