China has unveiled its defense budget, including the 14th annual double-digit percentage increase in spending. Most of the money goes to pay the 2,500,000 soldiers, but most of the rest is spent on new and modern weapons. It is generally assumed that 2/3 or more of the Chinese defense budget is not included in the public document. This implies defense spending of some $60 billion, which is less than 20 percent of US spending. Moreover, corruption and waste in military spending is much more of problem in China than in America.--Stephen V Cole