China to spend growing defence budget on combat readiness and ‘preparation for war’

China will direct much of its growing defence budget to combat readiness as challenges persist at home and abroad, according to the country’s military.

In a statement issued on Saturday during the annual session of the National People’s Congress (NPC), PLA delegation spokesman Wu Qian was quoted as saying that the goal was to “comprehensively improve strategic capacity to defend national sovereignty, security and development interests”.

“The instability and uncertainty of the security situation we face have increased, and the task of the military struggle is arduous and burdensome,” Wu said, adding that international military conflicts had erupted and China’s domestic anti-separatist struggle was “complex and grim”.

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Opening the NPC session on Tuesday, Premier Li Qiang said military spending would grow by 7.2 per cent to 1.69 trillion yuan (US$235 billion), the same rate of increase as last year but higher than the country’s economic growth target for this year of 5 per cent.

Wu said the increased budget would mainly go to major strategic projects and programmes in the five-year plan to “fully strengthen the combat readiness and preparation for war”.

More investment would also go towards advanced technology, science, logistics and key weaponry and equipment.

Extra funding would be used to improve work and living conditions and welfare for People’s Liberation Army personnel as well as an overhaul of internal military governance.

Anti-corruption investigators have targeted a number of PLA commanders in the past year, particularly in relation to weapons procurement.

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Wu said resources would be used more effectively.

“The PLA will keep in mind the idea of living with a tight budget, strengthen the concept of high efficiency and low consumption, and adhere to the principle of doing everything diligently and frugally,” he said.

China’s defence budget is second only to that of the US military.

Wu said China’s spending was “transparent, reasonable and appropriate”, and “relatively low” compared to the United States in terms of its proportion of GDP and overall government spending, as well as military spending per capita or spending per military personnel.

Another beneficiary of the increased spending would be global peace, he said, with Chinese personnel taking part in international missions such as peacekeeping, naval escorts and humanitarian rescues.

Wu condemned US arms sales to Taiwan and repeated Beijing’s opposition to “external interference” by Washington.

He also sent a warning to the island’s president-elect, William Lai Ching-te of the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party.

“We are willing to work with the utmost sincerity and endeavour for the prospect of peaceful reunification, but we the PLA will never give the slightest room for separatist acts of ‘Taiwan independence’,” Wu said.

“The PLA will continue to strengthen its training and preparation for war and resolutely fight independence and promote unification.”

South China Morning Post