China says it will boost its defence budget in 2011

[pmaitra]

China says it will boost its defence budget in 2011

China's military power is keeping pace with its growing economic dominance

3 March 2011; BBC News

China will raise its defence budget by 12.7% in 2011, a government spokesman has said.

Spending will increase to 601.1bn yuan ($91.5bn; £56.2bn) up from 532.1bn yuan last year.

The announcement comes a day ahead of the annual National People's Congress, at which the Communist Party will outline its five-year plan.

China has been building up its military, causing anxiety to a number of countries in the region.

"China's modernisation of its military and increased activity is, along with insufficient transparency, a matter of concern," Yuki Edna, Japan's chief cabinet secretary, said on Thursday.

Relations have been strained between China and Japan over disputed isles in the South China Sea, where there are large potential reserves of oil and gas.

Build-up

China's defence budget was increased by 7.5% in 2010, after double-digit jumps in recent years.

"There's no two ways about the fact that China's military is getting much more powerful," said Duncan Innes-Kerr of the Economist Intelligence Unit in Beijing.

"Its ability going forward to overwhelm opponents is clearly increasing," he added.

However, analysts say there is a low chance of a military conflict over disputed territories in the region.

"Territorial claims are a secondary concern for China compared to domestic economic growth and stability," said Mr Innes-Kerr.

Other countries in the region are also beefing up their military strength.

Last week, India announced an increase of 11.6% in annual defence spending, an increase from 4% last year.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12631357

 

[pmaitra]

China military modernisation gathers pace

China military modernisation gathers pace

By Shirong Chen
BBC China Editor
7 January 2011; BBC News

Photos of a possible working prototype of a Chinese-made stealth aircraft were recently leaked

The leaked pictures of China's stealth plane have once again put the spotlight on China's military modernisation.

The US has the world's only operational stealth fighter, the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor, and has been playing down the images that appear to show a working prototype.

But they are yet another sign of the shifting balance brought about by the rise of the country's economic power.

Their emergence coincides with a Chinese general's call to double official military spending, against a background of wider cuts in military budgets in industrialised countries caused by the global financial crisis.

US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates - who is due to start his long-delayed visit to Beijing on Sunday - says the Pentagon wants to make further cuts of nearly $80bn (£51bn) over the next five years.

The US and its allies have played down any possibility of the early deployment by China of such an advanced aircraft.

But they have sounded the alarm about the expansion of Beijing's military capabilities, especially its Air Force, Navy and the Second Artillery Corps that controls China's ballistic missiles and nuclear arsenal.

Japan last month defined China as its main military concern, citing Beijing's increased assertiveness in the East and South China Seas.

China has increased military funding as its economy has grown

More spending

Beijing insists its military modernisation poses a threat to no one.

The older generation of China's military used to take pride in having seized power from the ruling Kuomingtang Party in 1949 with "millet and rifles".

But three modern wars in other parts of the world have hardened the resolve of China's top brass to catch up militarily.

The conflict between the UK and Argentina nearly 30 years ago pushed the late leader Deng Xiaoping to slash one million army personnel so as to use the then limited military budget on improving hardware.

The two Gulf Wars further demonstrated the technological superiority of the US and its allies, and spurred Chinese leaders on a new drive to "informatise" the military by integrating new technology into equipment and operations.

China's official military budget quadrupled between 1999 and 2009 as the country's economy grew.

Last year, China announced a smaller-than-usual 7.5% increase to $76.3bn, causing quite a backlash among China's hard-line generals.

'Special requirements'

To be sure, the US defence budget is still the biggest in the world at around $700bn, but China's is the second largest and the rate of increase may well go up this year.

In an article published in a Chinese Communist Party publication this week, General Jiang Luming, head of the military economics unit at China's National Defence University, called for "maximising national interest" by doubling China's military funding to 2.8% of GDP, which he said was the average of 132 countries since the end of the Cold War.

He said this was needed to meet "special security requirements" - an apparent reference to preparing for eventual reunification with Taiwan, safeguarding key interests overseas and offshore, and China being a socialist country without any military allies.

This last issue is compounded by the arms embargo imposed by the European Union following the military crackdown in Tiananmen Square in 1989. The Chinese government has been lobbying to get the sanctions lifted without success.

On various occasions, Chinese officials have said the 21-year-old EU arms embargo forces China to invest more in its own military research and development.

Perhaps Russia is the only country China could turn to for advanced military and space technology. But China seems to be learning very fast.

Some analysts believe the pupil is overtaking the teacher in many areas.


Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12134611

 

[kickok1975]

It is said that the salary of active-duty sergeancy will be raised 40% in new budget.

 

[pmaitra]

^^ In that case, PRC's neighbours should not be alarmed about the defence budget hike.

The problem here is one does not know if this is for foreign consumption, i.e., to keep PRC's neighbours from feeling threatened.

Hope it is true.

 

[kickok1975]

China just feels increasingly under pressure by US since US government now is quoting China as scapegoat on almost all major events. China is also a country with US military by her doorstep with her all major cities aimed by US Nuclear missiles. If I were Chinese government I would have no choice too but to increase military budget to defend the very survival of the nation.

 

[nimo_cn]

http://v.ifeng.com/lianghui/xianchang/201103/4d0a7751-dcdc-4d6c-a739-5a218bca9ac6.shtml

This is a video clip showing how the spokesman of the two sessions addressed an Indian journalist's corncern over Chinese increasing defence spending.

 

[badguy2000]

the defence expenditure this year is reported to be 601.1 billion RMB( about 92 billion USD).

But it is only 6% of China's total government spending. In fact, the ratio is decreasing year by year!