Australia sounds the alarm over Chinas extraordinary military buildup [Video]

Australia’s top defence official has called on Beijing to provide more transparency around the “extraordinary” expansion of its military, with Washington urging Canberra to increase its own defence spending to counter China’s.

Speaking Sunday at the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual gathering in Singapore of top Asia-Pacific military officials, Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles said China had not provided other countries in the region any “strategic reassurance” regarding the massive expansion of the People’s Liberation Army in recent years.

“What we have seen from China is the single biggest increase in military capability and buildup in a conventional sense by any country since the end of the Second World War,” Mr. Marles said. “That is one of the key features of the complexity of the strategic landscape which all of us face within the region and which is faced around the world.”

This is happening “without a clear strategic intent on the part …