China says it plans to increase military spending by nearly 18%
this year, to 417.8bn yuan ($59bn; £30bn). The figure was revealed
ahead of China's annual parliamentary session, which begins on
Wednesday.
Other nations have expressed concern about China's growing
military power, and say Beijing is not open enough about what it is
spending its money on.
Washington claims that the real Chinese defence budget is at
least double the stated amount.
In an annual Pentagon report released hours before China's
defence spending announcement, the US highlighted particular
concern over Chinese activities in both space and cyberspace.
China said it rejected the Pentagon report as a "serious
distortion of facts" that could harm relations between the two
nations.
"It breaks international norms... We do not pose a threat to any
country. The US should drop its Cold War mentality," the foreign
ministry said in a statement.
But China said... Most of this year's military increase will be
spent on increasing salaries and accommodating higher oil prices,
according to Jiang Enzhu, a spokesman for China's National People's
Congress, which begins its annual meeting on Wednesday. Mr Jiang
said spending on armaments would rise only moderately.
"China pursues a national defence policy that is defensive in
nature," he said.
"China's limited military capability is solely for the purpose
of safeguarding independence, sovereignty and territorial
integrity, and does not pose a threat to any other country."
He added that China spent less on defence, as a proportion of
GDP, than the US, UK, France and Russia.
But the international community remains concerned.
