China Cracks Down On Military Graft, Extravagance - Report

The lavishness of the Chinese military would not surprise me ! I'm sure it has always been ran just like the Government , The rich And elite ,get more rich and ... Elite ! O.K. for the government , not O.K. for the military I guess ! The real thing that caught my eye was this :

The circular comes after China's parliament announced in March a CNY480.7 billion ($70 billion) defense budget for 2009, a 14.9% increase over the previous year.

Following annual double-digit growth in defense spending over most of the last 20 years, China's rapidly modernizing military has kept pace with the nation's rising political and economic clout.

70 Billion dollars !!! A 15% increase , They now have A 2.4 million standing Military ! China will need to tame their beast to look good for the Sheeple of China !
Mr Obama , may want to take a little look at this and make some good decisions regarding The U.S . military , Before the new Beast wakens the sleeping Giant !

BEIJING (AFP)--Chinese President Hu Jintao has called for a crackdown on graft and extravagance in the military, kicking off a campaign to bring discipline to the world's largest army, state press said Monday.
In a recent circular he ordered the end to "prominent problems" in the military and reiterated the need to maintain a clean and honest defense force, the People's Liberation Army Daily reported.

"Faced with a severe and complex ideological struggle, senior and midlevel officers must maintain staunch ideological conviction and resolutely uphold political steadfastness," the paper quoted the order as saying.

Military officers must do more to follow orders, obey the law, end lax work habits and maintain Communist Party discipline, it said.

The circular was aimed at ending "luxury and hedonism" in the 2.3-million- strong military, the China Daily said.

"The public impression is that some army officers have lavish lifestyles," said Mao Shoulong, a researcher at People's University in Beijing, according to the paper.

"Army corruption is mainly caused by a relatively weak prevention network," he said, adding that the military remains largely not transparent on matters of internal graft.

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