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China increases military spending in face of ‘escalating’ threats

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BEIJIN: China said on Sunday its military spending would rise at the fastest pace in four years, warning of “escalating” threats from abroad at a meeting of its parliament that will hand Xi Jinping a third term as president.


The increase in the world’s second-largest defence budget came as Beijing announced an economic growth goal of around five per cent for this year.


The country’s planned budgets for the year put defence spending at 1.55 trillion yuan, a 7.2 per cent rise and the quickest rate of increase since 2019. It officially rose 7.1 per cent last year.


“The armed forces should intensify military training and preparedness across the board,” he said as he presented the government’s annual work report to thousands of amassed delegates in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People. The military must “devote greater energy to training under combat conditions, and... strengthen military work in all directions and domains”, he added. China’s defence spending still pales in comparison with the United States, which has allotted over $800 billion for its military this year. But analysts have said Beijing spends much more money than the officially announced sums. The ramped-up spending comes during a low point in relations between China and the United States.


Beijing and Washington have butted heads in recent years over trade and other issues, but relations soured even further last month when the US shot down a Chinese balloon it said was being used for surveillance — a claim strenuously denied by Beijing.


James Char, an expert on China’s military at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University pointed out that several countries across Asia were boosting their defence spending, in part due to “their respective threat perceptions of the regional security landscape”.


Experts expect few surprises at this week’s carefully choreographed NPC, with thousands of politicians coming from across China to vote on laws and personnel changes pre-approved by the ruling Communist Party (CCP).


Also top of the NPC’s agenda will be Friday’s reappointment of Xi as president, after he locked in another five years as head of the party and the military — the two most significant leadership positions in Chinese politics — at an October congress.


But many issues are certain to be avoided at this week’s Beijing conclave, which will also see the unveiling of Xi confidant and former Shanghai party chief Li Qiang as the new premier.


Delegates to the NPC — and to the concurrent “political consultative conference” (CPPCC) that began on Saturday — will also discuss issues ranging from the economic recovery to improved sex education in schools, according to state media reports. — Agencies


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