Asia's growing defense clout questioned<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE (AFP): Growing military influence in non-security
\nmatters and spiralling weapons spending in a period of peace pose
\nserious political and economic problems for Asian countries,
\naccording to a regional think-tank.<\/p>\n
The Political and Economic Risk Consultancy Ltd. (PERC) said
\nthe dangers of a major military conflict in the foreseeable
\nfuture were low in the region despite \"hot spots\" in the Korean
\npeninsula and the Taiwan Strait.<\/p>\n
\"This raises the question, therefore, of why defense spending
\nin Asia is growing more rapidly than in any other region in the
\nworld ...,\" said the PERC's fortnightly Asian Intelligence,
\nreceived here over the weekend.<\/p>\n
It said the buying spree \"could jeopardize regional harmony by
\nsowing the seeds of distrust among neighboring governments and
\nmaking consensus and compromise more difficult.\"<\/p>\n
Southeast Asia, with US$9 billion in weapons purchases or 22
\npercent of global sales, overtook the Middle East in 1995 as the
\nworld's third largest defense market after the United States and
\nEurope, the report noted.<\/p>\n
\"It's almost as if buying an F-18 (fighter) is a matter of
\nnational pride, \" it said.<\/p>\n
\"Growing military clout could also adversely affect the
\npolitical stability within the countries doing the spending as
\nwell as be a source of eventual economic problems for these
\nnations,\" the report said.<\/p>\n
\"While regional wars are not a prospect we rate as very high
\nin the coming decade, military risks could take other forms that
\nare nevertheless worrying.\"<\/p>\n
Warning of \"military ineptness\" in Asia, PERC said only four
\neconomies had put forward \"a really coordinated, forward-looking
\nmilitary development program\" -- Japan, China, Singapore and Hong
\nKong.<\/p>\n
The report rated tiny Singapore's armed forces as the best-
\nequipped and one of the most professionally run in Asia, noting
\nnot only the city-state's modern weapons but also its mandatory
\nmilitary service of two-and-a-half years for all able-bodied
\nyoung men.<\/p>\n
Hong Kong, which reverts to Chinese rule in July 1997, is
\nexpected to work out an arrangement with China under which the
\ncolony would shoulder much of the maintenance costs of defense
\nforces, somewhat similar to the way it is now paying for 65
\npercent of the upkeep of the British Garrison, the report said.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian armed forces, long preoccupied more with
\ninternal matters, came under strong criticism in the report.<\/p>\n
\"If ever there was a military which was not quite able to
\nbring itself to focus on its primary role of defending the
\ncountry against external aggression, the Indonesian armed forces
\nis surely a good candidate,\" PERC said.<\/p>\n
Malaysia is determined to accelerate the transformation of its
\nmilitary into a modern defense force \"capable of backing up the
\nnation's territorial claims in the South China Sea and
\nelsewhere,\" it said.<\/p>\n
The Philippines, which closed a major U.S. naval base in 1992,
\nhas one of the weakest armed forces in the region, with troops
\nlacking discipline and a clear focus, but the modernizing
\nmilitary has ceased to be a \"tool of repression\" and a source of
\ncoup plots.<\/p>\n
PERC said increasingly prosperous Thailand was wary of its
\nneighbors and planning its defenses accordingly.<\/p>\n
\"Spectacular economic growth has not produced a sense of
\nsecurity in defense terms but instead is perceived as dangerous
\nbecause, with the country so much richer, poorer neighboring
\nnations may find it an inviting target,\" it said.<\/p>\n
Bangkok is worried by unresolved disputes over fishing rights,
\nas well as ethnic and other insurgences in Myanmar, Laos and
\nCambodia which could drag in Thai forces, the report said.<\/p>\n
In Vietnam, where wars against foreign invaders have been a
\nconstant of history, the military is adjusting to a peacetime
\nenvironment and has gone into business while remaining a key
\nelement in the ruling communist politburo and central committee,
\nPERC said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/asias-growing-defense-clout-questioned-1447893297",
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