> and a budget that is larger than the next 10 largest spending countries put together. Thanks to China that's not even remotely close to being true. The big g

> and a budget that is larger than the next 10 largest spending countries put together. Thanks to China that's not even remotely close to being true. The big gap between the US and China on military spending is in personnel costs, which can properly be adjusted accordingly (just because the US pays a soldier $60k per year doesn't mean that soldier is four times the soldier China pays $15k). China in all practical terms has now caught up to the US in military spending and will surpass the US easily this decade. When you adjust everything for purchasing power China may already be ahead overall (that matters because China can spend $10b and get the same result as when the US spends $20b or $30b, including when it comes to personnel, due to eg the variance in costs between the two nations). Bloomberg article, two years ago: "China Outspends the U.S. on Defense? Here’s the Math. Factoring in purchasing power and personnel costs leads to a surprising conclusion." https://archive.is/32N1F https://archive.is/32N1F Now, that's a two year old article. In that time, the US economy has been smacked by Covid and China has decided it wants to even more aggressively expand its military. China is going to become the dominant, global, military superpower within 20 years, with all that that very obviously entails for the world. It's a reasonable guess that in another ten years they'll be spending 1/3 more than the US on military in real terms.