Beijing Outspends Japan on Military

BEIJING — China has overtaken Japan as the country with the highest military spending in Asia, according to a new study. The report by the respected Swedish International Peace Research Institute says that China's increased expenditure on modernizing its military saw it rise to fourth place in the worldwide list, with spending just under $50 billion, compared to $43.7 billion by Japan. America remains in first place, accounting for 46% of all the world's military spending, with expenditures of $505 billion in 2005 rising to $529 billion in 2006, largely due to the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.