Story highlights Modest budget hike aims to send reassuring message But China is building up its military capabilities Yvonne Chiu is an assistant professor at The University of Hong Kong specializing in China’s military and diplomacy. The views expressed here are solely hers. Hong Kong (CNN)China’s announcement of the smallest percentage increase to its military budget since 2010 — around 7% (to approximately $148 billion) — seems designed in part to project the image of being the sober, peaceful force in the Asia-Pacific sphere. Especially so, given that it came on the heels of the US President’s call for a large increase (about 10%) in US military spending. However, this could be a little deceptive, as additional US military spending will undoubtedly meet legislative resistance and ultimately fall short of the proposed $54 billion increase, whereas China does not have to contend with such internal opposition. Furthermore, China’s military spending is more opaque — actual spending could be 20-40% more than what is reported — and most likely does not include ongoing modernisation programs, despite official claims to the contrary. So what will China spend its money on? Read More Although the Chinese military is still fairly traditional in that it is dominated by the army,… Read full this story
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