China's defence budget will soar by a massive 17.8 percent in
2007, a senior official announced Sunday, as the United States said
it wanted to know more about the Asian giant's intentions.
China's armed forces will get 350.9 billion yuan (about 45 billion
dollars) for 2007, a rise of nearly 53 billion yuan over actual
spending in 2006, said Jiang Enzhu, a spokesman for the National
People's Congress, the legislature.
"In recent years, China has gradually been boosting its military
expenditures," he told reporters at a briefing in Beijing.
"Our nation has all along rationally set out national defence
spending by coordinating national defence with economic
development."
Just hours after the announcement, US Deputy Secretary of State
John Negroponte, who was on a visit to Beijing, told reporters he
would like to know more about what China plans to do with new
military hardware.
"The way I phrase our concern is the concern about transparency and
the desire to have a more extensive dialogue with China on what
their military build-up involves, what the doctrine is that
underlies it, and what their intentions are," he said.
Little more than a week ago, US Vice President Dick Cheney said
China's military build-up clashed with its repeated claims to be a
peaceful power.
Cheney cited a January ballistic missile test by China that
destroyed one of its own satellites in space as evidence of the
nation's increasing militarisation.
The new budget figures came a day after China voiced its opposition
to US plans to sell 450 air and ground missiles to Beijing's arch
rival, Taiwan.
A Taiwan government spokesman said Sunday the budget increase
marked "China's rising threat" to the island, and that real
expenditure could be higher.
Jiang, the Chinese spokesman, said the military expenditure would
account for 7.5 percent of total government expenditure in 2007,
compared with 7.4 percent in 2006.
"Overall, the proportion has been stable over the past few years,"
said Jiang, speaking ahead of Monday's opening of the annual
session of the legislature, which is to approve the budget.
"The increases have been in order to make up for the weak basis of
the nation's defence."
China's military expenditure in 2005 amounted to 1.35 percent of
Chinese gross domestic product, compared with 4.03 percent for the
United States, Jiang said.
"What I especially want to emphasise is that China persists in
following the path of peace and development and in pursuing a
defence policy that is defensive in nature," he said.
"China does not have the wherewithal nor the intention to engage in
an arms race. China does not pose and will not pose a threat to any
country."
China has increased its military spending by double digits nearly
every year over the past 15 years, including 14.7 percent last year
and 12.6 percent in 2005.
US officials have estimated China's annual defence spending at
between 80 and 115 billion dollars, the highest in the world after
the United States, and well above their stated budget announced in
March 2006 of 35 billion dollars for that year.
Much of the funding is aimed at building a military force capable
of reunifying Taiwan by force should the island territory claimed
by China seek to realise formal independence, they said.
Jiang also reiterated that constitutional reform efforts by Taiwan
President Chen Shui-bian were moving the democratic island
dangerously towards formal independence, and warned against such
moves.
"To resolutely contain the separatist activities of Taiwan
independence forces and safeguard peace in the Taiwan Strait is the
most important and urgent task facing compatriots on both sides of
the strait," Jiang said.
China "will never tolerate an independent Taiwan and will never
permit anyone under any form to split Taiwan from the
mainland."
