An Arms Race Explodes in Asia-Pacific

The Asia-Pacific region is now well and truly in an arms race like no other. China alone is said to have quadrupled its military spending since 2000. Indeed, in 2013 Asian countries spent a combined US$322 billion on military budgets compared to US$262 billion in 2010.

Despite global military spending falling in 2013 by 1.9 percent in real terms, Asian e…