China is going to increase its defense budget tremendously, will make PLA the most powerful by the year 2035! Understand Jinping’s intention
China has said that it is increasing its defense budget to 249 billion US dollars, which is an increase of 7.2 percent compared to the previous military budget. Prime Minister Li Qiang has presented the draft budget in the National People’s Congress, according to which the country’s defense expenditure this year will be 1.78 trillion yuan i.e. 249 billion US dollars.
Beijing: China aims to make its army the most powerful by the year 2035. With this goal, China announced on Wednesday that its defense expenditure in the year 2025 will be increased by 7.2 percent, the same as last year. China has said that it is rapidly modernizing its armed forces. Experts believe that China is further intensifying strategic competition with the US. The PLA Navy has already overtaken the US in terms of construction of warships and now China is eyeing to make the Army and Air Force extremely powerful as well. China has been spending heavily on its armed forces for the past several years and this time too its defense budget is as per estimates.
China’s defense budget is the second largest military budget in the world after the US. However, its defense budget is still much less than that of the US. But in terms of the number of soldiers, China has left the US far behind. In the last few years, China has aggressively increased the number of soldiers in its army. China’s defense budget this year is 1.78 trillion yuan i.e. about $ 249 billion, which is less than one-third of the US defense budget. The US defense budget in 2025 is $ 850 billion.
China’s aggressive defense budget
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SUPRI) report states that last year China’s military expenditure was 1.6 percent of its total GDP, which is much less than the United States and Russia. But many experts believe that China lies about its defense budget. This defense budget is only to show the world. Apart from this, China also spends on its defense sector through different projects, which it shows in its budget in a different way. China tries to prevent its defense budget from looking aggressive. The way China is modernizing its army is viewed with suspicion by America as well as its neighboring countries like Japan, India and the Philippines.
China has a serious dispute with Japan in the East China Sea. While in the South China Sea, it completely rejects the rights of countries like the Philippines, Indonesia, Brunei and Malaysia. China continuously displays its military power in the South China Sea. China claims that it has the sole right over the South China Sea. To further strengthen its authority, it has built many artificial islands, which it can use as military platforms during war. China had rejected the decision of international arbitration on the South China Sea.
Concern in neighboring countries due to China’s defense budget
China’s huge defense budget and army modernization program have created concern in neighboring countries. Taiwan in particular has the biggest fear of Chinese aggression. China calls Taiwan its part while Taiwan calls itself a separate country. Chinese President Xi Jinping has talked about ‘not ruling out the use of force’ to merge Taiwan with China. China’s defense budget is being increased at a time when thousands of representatives of the Chinese Communist Party have gathered in Beijing for the inaugural session of the National People’s Congress (Chinese Parliament). Speaking in the first session of the Parliament session, the Prime Minister of China has vowed that China will “strongly oppose separatist activities aimed at Taiwan’s independence and external interference, so as to promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations”.
China calls any criticism of its defence budget a “defensive” expenditure. It says the purpose of military spending is to maintain its sovereignty. Associate Professor Chin-Hao Huang at the National University of Singapore has said in a report by news agency AFP that “this increase in military spending is happening amid growing uncertainties in China’s external environment and domestic security priorities”. He said that “the increase in the defence budget reflects the need to maintain and advance the military capabilities of the People’s Liberation Army to maintain speed and China’s effort to keep itself ready for any situation.”
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