Reality Check: Chinese Military Spending in Context & Alternatives to a Bloated U.S. Defense Budget

In a “reality check” conversation on the United States’ and China’s military budgets, a panel of experts will discuss the Costs of War project’s latest report, “Chinese Military Spending in Context,” written by William D. Hartung of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. The report author will be joined by Luo Shuxian, assistant professor in the Department of Asian Studies at the University of Hawaii, Mānoa, and Rorry Daniels, Managing Director of the Asia Society Policy Institute, to offer recommendations on peaceful alternatives to escalating rhetoric, naval buildup, and bloated military spending.

Bios:

William D. Hartung, report author and panelist, is a Senior Research Fellow for the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. His research focuses on the arms industry and U.S. military budget. He has been a featured national security expert on 60 Minutes, NBC Nightly News, PBS Newshour, and CNN, and his articles on security issues have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, The Nation, and the World Policy Journal. His report, “Reality Check: Chinese Military Spending in Context,” is the latest research from the Costs of War project of Brown University’s Watson Institute of International & Public Affairs.

Shuxian Luo, panelist, is assistant professor (tenure-track) in the Department of Asian Studies at the University of Hawaii, Mānoa, and a non-resident China Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Her research interests include maritime security in the Indo-Pacific, Chinese foreign policy, and U.S.-China relations, especially crisis management. Her current book project, tentatively titled “Taking it to the Sea: Escalation Decisions and Strategies in China’s Maritime Disputes,” develops an analytical framework to explain when, why, and how China escalates incidents at sea arising from its maritime territorial and boundary disputes in the 21st century.

Rorry Daniels, panelist, is the Managing Director of Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI), where she leads and oversees strategy and operations for ASPI’s projects on security, climate change, and trade throughout Asia. She is also a Senior Fellow with ASPI’s Center for China Analysis. Her most recent research project audited the U.S.-China Strategic & Economic Dialogue to evaluate its process and outcomes. She regularly writes and provides analysis for major media outlets and newsletters on security issues in the U.S. and the Asia Pacific.

Elizabeth Beavers, moderator, is the Vice President for Public Affairs of the Quincy Institute and a national security legal scholar. She has a decade of experience working for and advising national advocacy organizations to lobby lawmakers, organize and train grassroots activists, and change the public narrative on matters of peace and security.

[SpaghetteMan]

China's economic fundamentals are solid; the current downturn is merely an economic shift that is putting an end to toxic speculations in real estate. The real question these folks should be talking about is how China's growing middle class & purchasing power is eroding America's influence in Korea and Japan.

If Korea & Japan become economically subordinate to China, it's very likely that they'll withdraw from a conflict over Taiwan. Without the coalition, the US is unlikely to pose a threat to China.

[robinlox]

How about making addressing people using their names be the norm, then we wouldnt have to listen to people teling us about their preffered pronouns? Pls. Soon as i heard it I had to dig really deep into my resolve to continue listening to this otherwise excellent content.

[tonywilson]

Its kind of hard to take this group seriously at times.
The girl in the upper right talking about the the Chinese v Philippines dispute is simply China being a regional Bully. Actually go and look on a map and see where the Chinese have set up those bases. They are NO WHERE NEAR the Chinese Mainland. The Spratly Islands are off the East coast of the Philippines.
There's the Paracel Islands further North that the Chinese do have a legitimate claim to because there are records of Chinese trading posts there and archaeological evidence to support they had a presence there in the past. But there's NOTHING to support any Chinese claims in the Spratly Islands. Its just a super power bullying smaller nations.

[denisross]

See the Pentagon Policy Planning Guide 1992 for more details