Chinese military modernization and behavior in the South China Sea and East China Sea has forced its regional neighbors to gear up for what could be a nasty war in the not too distant future.

The big four — Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan — are the primary defense spenders in the region with total defense spending and annual budgets for personnel, operations and procurement ranging from a low of $9.4 billion for Singapore and $9.8 billion for Taiwan to about $35 billion and $40 billion for South Korea and Japan, respectively.

Countries such as Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam fall significantly below that amount in the $4-6 billion range and are unable to procure large quantities of modern weapon systems. They are also far less likely to be able to operate and integrate advanced weapon systems into their force structure due to poor training, corruption and poverty, and most have a history of procuring cheap Russian equipment with a poor record of quality assurance and logistical and maintenance support.

… Singapore technically has no serious security concerns from China, “preferring to cloak its security policy in such ambiguous terms as ‘regional stability and peace,’ or ‘fighting terrorism,’ ” said Richard Bitzinger, a senior fellow and coordinator of the Singapore-based Military Transformations Programme at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.