Does economic interest overrule military respect in China?
http://www.defencetalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/china-air-force.jpg For China’s leaders, the economy is the most important factor determining future military power. One needs to remind that after all, this country is ruled by a communist party. They visualize the components of national power as a combination of economic strength and the many levels of defense modernization. The emphasis on economic strength as a basis for future defense modernization reflects for the relative prioritization of military modernization. Chinese leaders believe that if resources are poured into military modernization at the expense of broader economic development, it will lead to stagnation and a form of economic growth that is not sustainable. Their focus will be on the “economic, scientific and technical” sphere rather than concentrating on strengthening China’s military power. Beijing’s strategy, therefore, is to buy time for increasing China’s military potential, which is slowly improving its cap
