[The Week] Across Asia, defense budgets are rising at an alarming rate. The figures are in large part a response to China's aggressive territorial claims in the South China Sea. They're a window into how China's neighbors to view the world -- and the view isn't good....
Although alarming, China's hike in defense spending is understandable. China is a physically large country in a dangerous neighborhood, with neighbors including Russia, North Korea, Pakistan, and even Afghanistan. China has also accumulated a great deal of wealth and raised the standard of living for hundreds of millions. All of that progress quite reasonably needs to be defended.
...
What frightens China's neighbors isn't the size of its defense budget, but the Chinese government's foreign policy.
China has territorial disputes with a dozen other countries. Some have been resolved peacefully. Others have not -- at least not to the satisfaction of China's neighbors. Beijing recently claimed a portion of the South China Sea defined by the so-called "Nine Dash Line." China's portion is 90 percent of the South China Sea, including territorial waters claimed by other countries.
...
Whether it believes its neighbors have a legitimate grievance or not, China has given its neighbors plenty to be worried about. But that's precisely the problem -- so far, China has shown that it doesn't believe there are legitimate points of view other than its own.
China expects smaller countries to stay out of the way and "not make trouble." International arbitration -- as in the case with The Philippines -- is refused. Any other points of view are incorrect -- or worse, directed by Washington, D.C.
China will continue to push its territorial claims with ships and planes, and other countries will continue to push back. The possibility exists that one of these confrontations could get out of hand, and a shooting incident could occur.
The presence of more weapons or better trained troops on either side does not necessarily make war more likely. China's defense budget won't start a war, but how it treats other countries just might.