Arms outlays included in Peking budget cuts

The National People's Congress has approved a 1980 budget totaling $70.6 billion -- $2.7 billion less than 1979. The lowered spending will mean cuts in defense, capital construction, and pay raises for state workers. China's vast military machine reluctantly accepted a $1.9 billion cutback that will seriously hamper reorganization of the armed forces. They had hoped to catch up quickly with the US and the USSR by buying sophisticated weapons from the West, but because of shortage of cash they are now more interested in buying just the knowhow to develop the systems.