in step - polaroid # 2

in step - polaroid # 2, originally uploaded by china.sixty4.

Solders of the "People Liberation Army" march toward Tiananmen in central Beijing -

"Beijing" has long excluded whole categories of spending from its defense budget, leading to the rather lame excuse from Gen. Cao Gangchuan, (defense secretary) that China does exclude—ahem—"some funding for the development of equipment" from its official defense budget. Its 2007 budget rose by a massive 14.9 % (the actual figure is unknown - 'of course' ) but it has been estimated to be 350.92 billion yuan, or roughly US.$44.94 billion in 2007 — an increase of $6.84 billion over last year, though experts believe the true figure of China's military spending could be several times the amount that it reports.
In a country that close to three quarters of its people/population still live in abject poverty and isolation from the center of power and with "no voice" within its political system, the question remains "why?"...
photo:mhobbs