Beijing to increase spending on defence

CHINA announced yesterday an 8.1 percent defence budget increase for 2018, giving a boost to the modernisation of the world’s largest military after spending slowed in the previous two years.

Beijing will splash out 1.11 trillion yuan ($175 billion) on its military, according to a budget report presented before the opening session of the annual National People’s Congress.

“We will stick to the Chinese path in strengthening our armed forces, advance all aspects of military training and war preparedness, and firmly and resolvedly safeguard national sovereignty,security,anddevelopment interests,” Premier Li Keqiang said in a report.

China’s neighbours and the United States have watched warily as Beijing has modernised its military, reducing its ground troops while spending on stateof-the-art hardware and weapons. Li said the military had completed its goal of slashing troop numbers by 300,000, leaving the People’s Liberation Army with a 2 million-strong force.

At the same time, Beijing has imposed assertive claims to vast expanses of the contested South China Sea, while engaging in confrontations with Japan over disputed islands in the East China Sea and with India over Himalayan border regions.

The 2018 outlay compares with a 7 percent increase last year and 7.6 percent in 2016, which marked the first time in six years that spending growth was not in double figures.

China spent $151 billion on the PLA last year, the second largest defence budget in the world but still four times less than the $603 billion US outlay, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

“We can expect that China’s defence budget will continue to be subordinated to, and coordinated with, China’s economic performance. It will likely not be over-militarised,” said James Char, a military expert at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University.

The president has trumpeted the need to build a stronger combat-ready military, while cementing his leadership over the army, which was ordered to pledge loyalty to him last year.

Xi has vowed to build a “worldclass” fighting force by 2050. The PLA has stocked up on stealth fighter jets, warships and hightech weaponry over the years.

“Technologically speaking, the PLA has progressed markedly in recent years, with its own research and development in military hardware and growing professionalism reducing the gap with its US counterpart,” Char said.