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Jiang En-Zhu, the spokesman for the ongoing 4th session of the 10th Chinese National People’s Congress, disclosed that China is to raise its military budget by 14.7% in 2006 to 283.8bn RMB (US$35.1bn).
Jiang confirmed the increase in a press conference on 4 March. He explained that much of this rise will be used to cover four aspects: to cover the increase of servicemen’s pay; to offset the increasing fuel price; to invest more on the education; and to cover the purchase of new equipment.
Jiang insisted that China’s military spending is lower than that of ‘some countries’ in terms of both total figure and proportion of the country’s GDP. He said that China is a peace-loving nation, and is committed to a path of peaceful development with "no intention of vigorously developing armaments".
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Chinese troops in amphibious assault exercise. The increasing tension between China mainland and Taiwan has been the main reason for China to increase its military expenditure in the past decade |
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Underestimated Figures
Jiang compared China’s military spending with other major Western nations. In 2005, China’s military spending was US$30.2bn, which is lower than that of the United States (US$401.7bn), United Kingdom (US$48.8bn), Japan (US$45.3bn), and France (US$36.5).
In 2005, the military spending of China is 1.36% of its GDP, which is also lower that that of the United States (3.6%), United Kingdom (2.59%), and France (1.98%).
In 2005, China allocated 7.43% of its overall budget to defence, comparing to the United States (17.8%), France (11.4%), and Germany (9.25%).
However, the United States has several times accused China of understating its military budget.
A previous report by the US think tank Rand in May 2005 estimated that China’s military spending is between 2.3~2.8% of the nation’s GDP, which is 40~70% higher than official Chinese government figures. Other sources estimated that the actual figure could be 2~3 times higher than the published figures.
It is believed that China has excluded certain costs from its annual defence budgets, including the military technology R&D. Some weapon purchases from Russia were also put under special government funding rather than defence budgets.
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The US and Japan have expressed their concerns over China’s increasing military spending and its acquisition of advanced weapons from Russia |
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Neighbour’s Concerns
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has seen double-digit increases in its spending since the early 1990s. The increases have caused concern among neighbours Japan and Taiwan.
As Taiwan’s independence trend grows, the Taiwan Strait has already become one of world’s hottest spot. The Chinese Communist Party and the government have repeatedly asked the armed forces to get ready for ‘military struggle’. The recent territory dispute and worsening relation with Japan is another reason that pushes China to raise its military spending.
China insists its military spending increase is in line with the development of its economy and rises in other governments.
4 March 2006
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