Quote:
|
According to the CIA World Factbook, China had a USD GDP of 10 trillion, in 2006, as measured in real purchasing power; meanwhile growth of GDP is 10% per year. Compare to the U.S.: 13 trillion USD GDP, but growth rate of only 3.4%. I could say do the math yourself. Never mind. I did it. According to my spreadsheet, China and the U.S. will have approximately equal GDP's in 2010. By 2011, China will have a significantly higher GDP than the U.S. I had heard around that 2014 would be the year, so it's worse than I thought.
|
Umm, you can't really use purchasing power parity for this calculation. Just because rent, haircuts and noodles are cheap in China doesn't necessarily translate into a more powerful economy. Otherwise you may as well claim that Nigeria is a millitary threat to the United Kingdom.
Quote:
|
U.S. spends 4.06% of GDP on military; China 4.3%. Those are comparable amounts. Remember, a dollar spent in China will go ten times further than a dollar spent in the U.S.
|
Further on what? China can put a lot of riflemen on the field, but I don't know what good it will do them against a superior foe. Consider what happened to Iraq's million strong army in Desert Storm.
Quote:
|
And who is China gearing up for? Vietnam? I don't think so.
|
China's spending on the military as a percentage of GDP has been gradually decreasing. You could just as well say China is gearing down. But it is interesting that you mention Vietnam. Despite having a massive army China's occupation was a dismal failure and it got its butt kicked. Just one more example of how a superior force can't hold territory if faced with a segment of the population trained in guerilla warfare.