SECOND TO THE US
China’s military spending has been on the rise for decades, broadly in line with economic growth.
The country has the world’s second-largest defence budget, but lags well behind the United States, its primary strategic rival.
Beijing’s 1.78-trillion-yuan (US$245.7-billion) budget for this year is still less than a third of Washington’s.
Military spending last year made up 1.6 per cent of its GDP, far less than the United States or Russia, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
But its defence expansion is viewed with suspicion by Washington, as well as other powers in the region.
China has increasingly flexed its muscles in the region, including in the South China Sea, which it claims almost entirely despite an international arbitration ruling that declared its stance baseless.
China describes its military stance as “defensive” and aimed at preserving its sovereignty.
China faces “one of the most complex neighbouring security situations in the world”, army spokesman Wu said, adding that it had to deal with “severe challenges” in defending its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
But its sweeping territorial claims over areas controlled by other governments have raised fears of a regional clash.
Taiwan is a potential flashpoint for a war between China and the United States, which is the island’s most important backer and biggest arms supplier.
On Friday, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi told a press conference that Taiwan coming under China’s control was the “shared hope of all Chinese people, the general trend of the time, and a righteous cause”.
“Using Taiwan to control China is just like trying to stop a car with the arm of a mantis,” he said.
Last month, Taiwan’s Ministry of Defence condemned China for holding “live-fire” exercises to the island’s south. Beijing defended the drills as “routine”.
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