China's 2017 defense budget will expand by about 7 percent, a
spokesperson for the annual session of the country's top legislature said. "China's
military capacity building will be continued. This is the requirement for
safeguarding our national sovereignty and security," Fu Ying, spokesperson
for the 12th National People's Congress (NPC) annual session, told a press
conference yesterday.
The new increase could be the country's slowest defense
budget rise in at least a decade. Last year, the country's defense budget rose
by 7.6 percent to 954 billion yuan (about 138 billion U.S. dollars), breaking a
multi-year run of double-digit increases. The country's 2016 economic growth
registered a nearly three-decade low of 6.7 percent. However, the rate still
outpaced most other major economies.
Premier Li Keqiang will unveil the government's GDP target
for this year on Sunday. The exact figure for the new defense budget is also
expected to be released in a budget report the same day. At the press
conference, Fu said China's defense budget in recent years has been in line
with China's economic development and defense needs. Her words were echoed by
Major General Chen Zhou, who said China's defense budget increase is reasonable
and moderate against the backdrop of "profound changes in China's overall
strength, its security environment and the world's strategic situation."
"A rise of about 7 percent in defense budget is
basically in keeping with last year's GDP output," said Rear Admiral Yin
Zhuo of the People's Liberation Army Navy. Yin said China's defense spending
per soldier is considerably lower than that of other major countries. The
country's entire defense spending last year accounted for less than a quarter
of that of the United States.
Last month, U.S. President Donald Trump pledged to further
strengthen his country's military buildup. In his first address to Congress
after taking office, Trump proposed a huge 54-billion-U.S. dollar surge in the
country's military spending, up 10 percent from the previous year. Fu also
noted that China's defense spending accounts for only about 1.3 percent of the
country's GDP, compared with NATO members' pledge to dedicate at least 2
percent of GDP to defense.
"You should ask them what their intentions are," Fu
told reporters, adding that China has "never inflicted harm on other
countries." "Of all the conflicts and wars in the world that have
killed and displaced so many people and caused significant loss of property,
which one is China to blame for?" she asked. Yin Zhuo also said China,
itself a victim of aggression in the past, would not inflict its own suffering
on others."We know the price for peace," Yin said . Concerning
disputes between China and neighboring countries, Fu said China advocates
dialogue and peaceful solutions in addressing those issues. "But in the
meantime, we must also have the capability to defend our sovereignty, our
rights and interests," she said.
"In particular, we must guard against outside forces
from interfering with such issues," Fu said without elaborating. "The
enhancement of China's capabilities is conducive to safeguarding regional peace
and stability, not the contrary," she continued. According to Fu, China
and some ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries have already
returned to dialogue and consultation, and tensions in the South China Sea have
shown trends of easing.
"As to the future development [of the settlement of
these disputes], I think we also need to take into account the intentions on
the U.S. side," she said, calling the United States' actions in the South
China Sea a "weather vane" for the region. Fu went on to say that
concerns over navigational freedom in the South China Sea are misleading and
uncalled for. "In essence ... Washington is perhaps concerned that China
could catch up with or surpass the United States in terms of capability,"
she said, noting that there is still a huge gap between the two countries.
Fu said whether a military poses a threat rests on its "strategic
intentions." "Thus the key question we should really ask is whether
we are pursuing common security or exclusive security," Fu said. "China
wants common security for all, and this is the shared consensus of many Asian
countries as well," she said.
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