Asian defence firms can exploit local insecurities

LIG Defense & Aerospace

16/03/2018 02:20

(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions
expressed are his own.)
    By Pete Sweeney
    BEIJING, March 16 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Beijing is
cranking up military spending and other regional governments are
gunning up as the U.S. security umbrella frays. Manufacturers
like Korea Aerospace, Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy and even China's
AVIC are ready to take a bigger bite of a $160 billion regional
weapons market.

    Full view will be published shortly.
    On Twitter https://twitter.com/petesweeneypro 
    
    CONTEXT NEWS
    - China on March 6 unveiled an 8.1 percent rise in defence
spending, the biggest rise in three years. The targeted outlay
for 2018 is now nearly $175 billion. 
    - Rising tensions in East Asia over territorial disputes has
seen regional governments increase military procurement, in
particular for equipment that can project power over vast
swathes of ocean.
    - Data from the Stockholm International Peace Research
Institute showed that Asia and Oceania, excluding the Middle
East, was the largest importer of arms between 2012 and 2016,
accounting for 43 percent of global imports.
    - China's overseas weapons sales increased 74 percent from
2012 to 2016 compared to the prior four-year period, making it
the world's third-largest arms exporter behind the United States
and Russia, according to SIPRI.    
    -  For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can
click on  SWEENEY/ 
    - SIGN UP FOR BREAKINGVIEWS EMAIL ALERTS: http://bit.ly/BVsubscribe

    <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
China defends hike in military spending as proportionate and low
    urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1QO1V6
SIPRI report     https://www.sipri.org/sites/default/files/Trends-in-international-arms-transfers-2016.pdf
BREAKINGVIEWS-Diplomatic fog blinds China and U.S. over N. Korea
    urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1M30BN
BREAKINGVIEWS-Beijing-Trump relations enter dangerous phase   
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1JV08X
BREAKINGVIEWS-China will show Trump more carrot than stick   
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1E314Z
Graphic: China and South Korea have increased their share of
global weapons exports     http://reut.rs/2DntRKq
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
 (Editing by Una Galani and Sharon Lam)
 ((pete.sweeney@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging:
pete.sweeney.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))