>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4617721.stm
>
>Arms spending topped a trillion dollars in 2004.

Meanwhile, while in Singapore a few days ago Secretary of War Donald Rumsfeld "observed" that China's fast-growing spending on weapons was very worrisome in view of the fact that China has no known enemies.

Funny, but the U.S. also has no known enemies and its spending tops the bunch!

By the way, Secretary Rumsfeld couldn't have been including terrorists as "enemies" because he knows that China does have a terrorist problem too. And I doubt that aircraft carriers and missiles and B1 bombers are the tools that are going to solve the terrorist problems of any nation.

But I do conclude that China is just wasting its money on arms because it is being ushered in as "the next super-power" and is going to help the (currently) rich "west" self-destruct as all the $$$ heads to China in search of ever greater profits regardless of consequences.

cheers