China's military wins on quantity, but Taiwan's navy and air force beats Beijing on quality, Japan said in a defense analysis released yesterday.
"China maintains an overwhelming force of arms," the Japanese Defense Agency said in a white paper monitoring the defense strength of its neighbors.
The country's navy and air force "overpowers Taiwan in terms of quantity, but Taiwan has advantage in terms of quality," the paper said.
With 1.7 million troops, 770 ships -- including 65 submarines -- and 3,600 aircraft, China has the largest army in the world, said the report.
Beijing's defense budget for 2001 jumped 17 percent, its highest gain since 1996, noted Japan, adding that the figure marked a double-digit surge for the 13th consecutive year since 1989.
Taiwan is now reducing its troops to 400,000 from 470,000, with 340 military ships and 620 aircraft, it said.
"It is necessary to watch moves closely, including the modernization of military strength in both China and Taiwan as well as arms sales from the United States to Taiwan," the report said.
North Korea was stepping up its military "despite economic difficulties," the paper said.
The Stalinist state is deploying mid-range missiles and mass-destruction arms while maintaining a large-scale special corps.
"Such moves have intensified military tension on the Korean peninsula and are regarded as gravely uncertain elements for security across East Asia, including Japan," it said.
Tokyo has been irked by North Korea's missile development since Pyongyang test-fired a ballistic missile over Japan and into the Pacific Ocean in August 1998. Japan and North Korea have no diplomatic relations.
Members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) had cut defense budgets following the 1997 economic crisis in the region, said the official document.
But the ASEAN members are now poised to resume modernizing their military on the back of an economic recovery, it said.
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