Reuters Beijing: :
China on Monday unveiled its largest defence spending increase in three years, setting an 8.1 percent growth target this year, fuelling an ambitious military modernisation programme and making its neighbours nervous.
The 2018 defence budget will be 1.11 trillion yuan ($175 billion), according to a report issued at the opening of China’s annual meeting of parliament.
The defence spending figure is closely watched worldwide for clues to China’s strategic intentions as it develops new military capabilities, including stealth fighters, aircraft carriers and anti-satellite missiles.
China will “advance all aspects of military training and war preparedness, and firmly and resolvedly safeguard national sovereignty, security, and development interests,” Premier Li Keqiang told the opening session in an address. “Faced with profound changes in the national security environment” the absolute leadership of the military by the ruling Communist Party must be observed, and the unity between the government and the military, and the people and the military, must always be “strong as stone,” he said.
Li also said China had basically completed efforts to cut back its armed forces by 300,000, a move President Xi Jinping announced in 2015 to improve efficiency that had caused unease in the ranks. The U.S. Defense Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the increased spending by its main strategic rival in Asia.
However, a State Department official said on condition of anonymity that “we continue to carefully monitor China’s military developments and to encourage China to exhibit greater transparency with respect to its capabilities and intentions.” “We encourage China to use its military capabilities in a manner conducive to the maintenance of peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region,” the official added.
U.S. President Donald Trump has proposed the largest military budget since 2011, focused on beefing up the United States’ nuclear defences and countering the growing strength of China and Russia.
The proposal would provide the Pentagon with $617 billion and an additional $69 billion to fund ongoing wars in fiscal 2019. That is $74 billion more than in the previous fiscal year.
China’s military build-up has unnerved its neighbours, particularly because of its increasing assertiveness in territorial disputes in the East and South China Seas and over Taiwan, a self-ruled territory Beijing claims as its own.
“We would like to see China be more transparent about its defence policy, including spending and the direction of its military power,” Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yoshihide Suga, told a regular briefing.
China on Monday unveiled its largest defence spending increase in three years, setting an 8.1 percent growth target this year, fuelling an ambitious military modernisation programme and making its neighbours nervous.
The 2018 defence budget will be 1.11 trillion yuan ($175 billion), according to a report issued at the opening of China’s annual meeting of parliament.
The defence spending figure is closely watched worldwide for clues to China’s strategic intentions as it develops new military capabilities, including stealth fighters, aircraft carriers and anti-satellite missiles.
China will “advance all aspects of military training and war preparedness, and firmly and resolvedly safeguard national sovereignty, security, and development interests,” Premier Li Keqiang told the opening session in an address. “Faced with profound changes in the national security environment” the absolute leadership of the military by the ruling Communist Party must be observed, and the unity between the government and the military, and the people and the military, must always be “strong as stone,” he said.
Li also said China had basically completed efforts to cut back its armed forces by 300,000, a move President Xi Jinping announced in 2015 to improve efficiency that had caused unease in the ranks. The U.S. Defense Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the increased spending by its main strategic rival in Asia.
However, a State Department official said on condition of anonymity that “we continue to carefully monitor China’s military developments and to encourage China to exhibit greater transparency with respect to its capabilities and intentions.” “We encourage China to use its military capabilities in a manner conducive to the maintenance of peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region,” the official added.
U.S. President Donald Trump has proposed the largest military budget since 2011, focused on beefing up the United States’ nuclear defences and countering the growing strength of China and Russia.
The proposal would provide the Pentagon with $617 billion and an additional $69 billion to fund ongoing wars in fiscal 2019. That is $74 billion more than in the previous fiscal year.
China’s military build-up has unnerved its neighbours, particularly because of its increasing assertiveness in territorial disputes in the East and South China Seas and over Taiwan, a self-ruled territory Beijing claims as its own.
“We would like to see China be more transparent about its defence policy, including spending and the direction of its military power,” Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yoshihide Suga, told a regular briefing.
