The Military Balance in Asia: China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Australia
China outspends Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Australia combined by about two to one. How the Asia-Pacific military balance looks in 2026.
The western Pacific is where the world’s two largest militaries are most likely to meet, and where several of America’s closest allies sit within range of Chinese missiles. Here is how the main military powers of East Asia and the Pacific compare.
Spending
China spent an estimated $336 billion on its military in 2025, according to SIPRI. Japan ($62.2 billion), South Korea ($47.8 billion), Australia ($35.3 billion) and Taiwan ($18.2 billion) together spent about $163.5 billion, roughly half as much.
The trend is shifting, though. Japan’s spending grew 9.7% in 2025 and Taiwan’s 14%, as both respond to China’s build-up. Japan has committed to a sharp increase in defence spending this decade, abandoning its long-standing practice of keeping it near 1% of GDP.
Navies
| # | Country | Total fleet |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 🇨🇳 China | 841 |
| 2 | 🇮🇳 India | 343 |
| 3 | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | 338 |
| 4 | 🇰🇵 North Korea | 332 |
| 5 | 🇰🇷 South Korea | 215 |
| 6 | 🇯🇵 Japan | 158 |
| 7 | 🇹🇼 Taiwan | 91 |
| 8 | 🇦🇺 Australia | 45 |
China’s navy is the largest in the region by any count: 841 vessels, 53 destroyers and 61 submarines. Japan has the most capable allied navy in the region, with 41 destroyers, 23 submarines and four large helicopter carriers, some of which are being converted to fly F-35B jets. South Korea has 14 destroyers and 22 submarines. Australia’s fleet is smaller, but under the AUKUS agreement it plans to acquire nuclear-powered submarines (see submarine fleets by country).
Air power
| # | Country | Fighters |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 🇨🇳 China | 1,443 |
| 2 | 🇮🇳 India | 476 |
| 3 | 🇰🇵 North Korea | 341 |
| 4 | 🇹🇼 Taiwan | 258 |
| 5 | 🇰🇷 South Korea | 242 |
| 6 | 🇯🇵 Japan | 217 |
| 7 | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | 41 |
| 8 | 🇦🇺 Australia | 24 |
China’s 1,443 fighters outnumber the combined fighter fleets of Japan (217), South Korea (242) and Taiwan (258) by more than two to one. Japan, South Korea and Australia all fly the F-35, though, and Global Firepower counts Australia’s F-35As as attack aircraft rather than fighters, which understates its real strength.
North Korea
North Korea is a different kind of threat: an enormous but poorly equipped army of about 1.32 million, thousands of tanks and artillery pieces aimed at Seoul, and an estimated 60 nuclear warheads with missiles that can reach Japan and beyond. South Korea’s forces are built first and foremost to deter it. See North Korea vs South Korea.
India and Indonesia
India, the region’s other giant, has a large army and growing navy, but its military planning focuses mainly on China and Pakistan along its land borders. Indonesia, with a fleet of 338 vessels to patrol its thousands of islands, increased its spending 28% in 2025, one of the fastest rises in the world.
The American factor
None of these numbers can be read in isolation. The United States has around 50,000 troops in Japan and about 28,500 in South Korea, along with the Seventh Fleet based in Japan. Its alliances with Japan, South Korea, Australia and the Philippines, and its arms supplies to Taiwan under US law, are the main counterweight to China’s regional advantage.
At the same time, China’s forces are concentrated close to home, while America’s are spread around the world and would have to cross the Pacific in a crisis. That is why the regional balance near China’s coast is much closer than global totals suggest.
Compare the region’s militaries directly: China vs Japan, China vs Taiwan, Japan vs South Korea and China vs Australia.