China announces military spending increase

Risingbd Desk: China on Saturday announced a 7% rise in annual military spending, the smallest increase in seven years.

It comes as the nation's parliament convenes its annual meeting, amid ongoing tensions in the South China Sea and acrimony over South Korea's deployment of a missile defense system.

A South Korean conglomerate approved a land swap deal with Seoul Monday, bringing the controversial THAAD missile defense system one step closer to reality despite Beijing's strong opposition to it.

1.3% of China's GDP

Fu Ying, the spokeswoman for the National People's Congress (NPC), which begins its 11-day session Sunday, said the proposed budget "based on defense needs as well as the national economy" accounted for 1.3% of China's GDP.

"We have to guard against external forces from getting involved in our territorial disputes," she said in response to a CNN question. "The strengthening of China's (military) capabilities help preserve peace and stability in the region, not the opposite."
The single-digit increase comes after US President Donald Trump's announcement that he wants to jack up US military spending by $54 billion next year.

That's a 10% increase over the cap on defense spending imposed by a budget deal that Congress passed six years ago.

In 2016, China said its military budget would increase by 7.6% to $146 billion, the slowest pace in six years. Until last year, China's budget had increased at a double-digit pace since 2010.

China's defense spending is eclipsed by the United States, which in 2015 accounted for 36% of all military spending worldwide, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

Agencies


risingbd/Dhaka/Mar 4, 2017/Nasim