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CHINA has slashed growth in the defence budget, vowing military modernisation will continue without threatening other countries
The military budget of 532.1 billion yuan ($84bn) is up 7.5 per cent on last year's figure, ending years of double-digit increases. It is believed to be the smallest increase in defence spending in at least 20 years.
The figures emerged from a media conference for the annual National People's Congress as a senior general responded to a furore over a new book by an army officer calling for China to become the top military power.
The news may help to calm fears that Beijing had harboured such a plan as it radically modernised its military in recent years.
"China is committed to peace," Li Zhaoxing, a spokesman for the congress, said yesterday in unveiling a defence budget he called reasonable. "The sole purpose of China's military strength is to protect China's sovereignty and territorial integrity."
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Experts on China's military said the slower rate of increase was most likely aimed at heading off domestic criticism of the military enjoying continued big budget hikes at a time of relatively slow economic growth.
"At least from a symbolic level, the message is that in tough economic times, the military has to tighten its belt too," said Tai Ming Cheung, a researcher at the University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Co-operation.
Others argued that China's defence expenditure had always been relatively low. Military spending in China accounted for about 1.4 per cent of its GDP, compared with 4 per cent for the US, and more than 2 per cent for Britain, France and Russia.
"China is the only permanent member of the UN Security Council that has not achieved territorial integrity," said Luo Yuan, a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and senior researcher with the Academy of Military Sciences. "We need to think more on how to preserve national integrity. We have no intention of challenging the US."
General Luo's remarks came just before the opening of the third session of the 11th CPPCC, in response to Senior Colonel Liu Mingfu, whose book, The China Dream, urges Beijing to build the world's strongest military.
"That's just his ambition," General Luo said.
Colonel Liu wrote: "China's big goal in the 21st century is to become the world's No 1, the top power." The bold, 303-page book stands out in a chorus of strong voices demanding a hard shove back against Washington over US arms sales to Taiwan and US President Barack Obama's meeting with the Dalai Lama.
US reports said Washington was likely to delay the release of its annual report on China's military power until after a planned White House visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao in April.
The report, which gives a much higher assessment of China military spending, is expected to be delayed until May.
China cuts back on defence growth | The Australian
The military budget of 532.1 billion yuan ($84bn) is up 7.5 per cent on last year's figure, ending years of double-digit increases. It is believed to be the smallest increase in defence spending in at least 20 years.
The figures emerged from a media conference for the annual National People's Congress as a senior general responded to a furore over a new book by an army officer calling for China to become the top military power.
The news may help to calm fears that Beijing had harboured such a plan as it radically modernised its military in recent years.
"China is committed to peace," Li Zhaoxing, a spokesman for the congress, said yesterday in unveiling a defence budget he called reasonable. "The sole purpose of China's military strength is to protect China's sovereignty and territorial integrity."
Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.
End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.
Experts on China's military said the slower rate of increase was most likely aimed at heading off domestic criticism of the military enjoying continued big budget hikes at a time of relatively slow economic growth.
"At least from a symbolic level, the message is that in tough economic times, the military has to tighten its belt too," said Tai Ming Cheung, a researcher at the University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Co-operation.
Others argued that China's defence expenditure had always been relatively low. Military spending in China accounted for about 1.4 per cent of its GDP, compared with 4 per cent for the US, and more than 2 per cent for Britain, France and Russia.
"China is the only permanent member of the UN Security Council that has not achieved territorial integrity," said Luo Yuan, a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and senior researcher with the Academy of Military Sciences. "We need to think more on how to preserve national integrity. We have no intention of challenging the US."
General Luo's remarks came just before the opening of the third session of the 11th CPPCC, in response to Senior Colonel Liu Mingfu, whose book, The China Dream, urges Beijing to build the world's strongest military.
"That's just his ambition," General Luo said.
Colonel Liu wrote: "China's big goal in the 21st century is to become the world's No 1, the top power." The bold, 303-page book stands out in a chorus of strong voices demanding a hard shove back against Washington over US arms sales to Taiwan and US President Barack Obama's meeting with the Dalai Lama.
US reports said Washington was likely to delay the release of its annual report on China's military power until after a planned White House visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao in April.
The report, which gives a much higher assessment of China military spending, is expected to be delayed until May.
China cuts back on defence growth | The Australian
