WASHINGTON, May 23 (UPI) -- Participants in a UPI-Zogby International poll expressed strong apprehension about the buildup of China's military.
The 5,141 U.S. residents who took part in the poll were asked to rate their level of concern regarding China's military buildup, with "1" meaning "not at all concerned" and "5" representing "highly concerned."
China in March announced an 18 percent increase in military spending to $44.9 billion -- about 10 percent of the U.S. Pentagon budget. U.S. Department of Defense officials have said, however, they don't believe that figure gives a true picture of total Chinese defense spending.
Some 29.7 percent of those surveyed said they were "highly concerned" over China's military buildup, while 33.1 percent gave "4" as a response. Some 24.2 percent gave "3" -- a neutral answer -- and 7.9 percent said "2." Less than 3 percent said they were "not at all concerned" about China's military growth.
More than half (52.1 percent) of the "very conservative" participants said they were highly concerned, but 12.2 percent of "progressives" gave "5" as an answer. A total of 7.6 percent of progressives said they were "not at all concerned" with China's military buildup.
The Zogby interactive poll has a margin of error of 1.4 percentage points and was conducted May 16-18.
