China opts for low rise in military budget but will still spend lot more than India

Times of India

 

BEIJING: China has announced a modest increase of 7 percent in its military budget for this year. But the expected expenditure of $145 billion in 2017 will be over three times the size of India’s defence budget for 2017-18.

Beijing’s decision to opt for a low increase in military expenditure contrasts sharply with US president Donald Trump‘s recent announcement that he will push for a 10 percent increase in defence spending. This is seen as a second attempt by Chinese president Xi Jinping to capture the moral high ground since his recent announcement at the World Economic Forum that China would stick to the path of globalization despite protectionist tendencies in the US.

 

Fu Ying, spokesperson for the 12th National People’s Congress (NPC) annual session, rubbed it in at a press conference as she pointed out that China will spend just 1.3 percent of its Gross Domestic Product on defence compared to a decision by NATO countries to invest 2 percent of GDP for the purpose.

“You should ask them what their intentions are,” Fu said.

Many military analysts believe China’s defence figures do not fully reflect its actual spending because many forms of investments are shown as civil works. They include the $46 billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor, which passes through Pakistan Occupied Kashmir and contains several security aspects. It is also not clear if the recent building of artificial islands in South China Sea is shown as military or civilian expenditure.

India and other neighbors of China have reasons to be worried because a portion of the increase in defence expenditure would go to the navy which is enhancing its capabilities in the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean.

“In order to protect China’s territories and overseas interests, China needs two carrier strike groups in the West Pacific Ocean and two in the Indian Ocean. So we need at least five to six aircraft carriers,” Yin Zhuo, a rear admiral and a senior researcher at the PLA Navy Equipment Research Center, told the Global Times newspaper.

Analysts said China opted for low spending on military in view of the economic slowdown and the government’s need for investing in areas that can boost the economy.

“The fresh raise could be the country’s slowest defense budget rise in more than a decade, and mark the second time that defense budget dip to single-digit increase since 2010. In 2009, the figure was about 15%,” Xinhua, the official news agency, said.