DEFENSE BUDGET ANNOUNCEMENT. China's National People's Congress spokesperson Zhang Yesui (center) holds a pre-session press conference on March 4, 2019 at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. (PNA photo by Kris Crismundo)
BEIJING -- The National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s national legislature, said Monday that its rising defense budget should not be treated as a military threat by other nations.
In a press conference before the opening of NPC’s annual session, NPC spokesperson Zhang Yesui said the hike in China’s defense spending aims to enhance its military capabilities for better safeguarding of its national security only.
“A proper increase in the defense budget is needed to safeguard national security,” Zhang said.
“I believe that when it comes to whether a country poses military threat to other countries, the key is that country's foreign and defense policies, and not how much budget in defense increases,” he stressed.
China is expected to announce its official budget for 2019 in the coming days during the NPC’s session from March 5 to 15.
In 2018, China earmarked USD175 billion as defense budget. It also announced that it is increasing defense expenditure by 8.1 percent this year.
Zhang noted that the growth in defense budget was kept in single digit since 2016 compared to the double-digit hike in the past five years before the said year.
“Compared with other countries in 2018, China's defense spending accounted for 1.3 percent of China's GDP. During the same period, some major developed countries spent more than 2 percent of their GDP for defense,” he added.
“China remains committed as always to a path of peaceful development and we pursue a defensive national defense policy. China’s limited defense spending is for safeguarding the sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of the country. It is not a threat to other countries,” Zhang concluded. (PNA)
