China increases military budget by another 14.7 per cent

Mar 4, 2006, 14:01 GMT

Beijing - China on Saturday said it had increased its military budget for this year by another 14.7 per cent, following similar large increases in recent years.

The defence budget for 2006 is set at 283.8 billion yuan (35.1 billion dollars), a spokesman for the National People's Congress (NPC), China's nominal parliament, told reporters.

NPC spokesman Jiang Enzhu defended the increase as 'moderate' and 'in line with China's rapid economic development.'

The increase would pay for higher salaries, rising oil prices and high-technology training for 'better defensive and combat capacity', Jiang said.

China's military spending is still just 1.36 per cent of its gross domestic product, considerably below the proportion of GDP in major developed countries such as the United States, Britain, France, Germany and Japan, he said.

'China is not willing to nor has the capacity to seek large-scale arms expansion,' Jiang said.

The 3,000-member NPC is scheduled to discuss and approve the national budget during its 10-day annual session, which begins on Sunday.

Much of China's military hardware is deployed against Taiwan, the island that Beijing regards as a renegade province.

Tension rose last week after Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian scrapped a council for eventual unification with mainland China.

Jiang said Chen had taken 'a dangerous step towards Taiwan independence' that was a 'serious provocation to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.'

President Hu Jintao used the same words last week but said China would continue to seek 'peaceful unification' with Taiwan despite Chen's 'provocation.'

Many Western critics claim China's real military spending is much higher than its budget figure, with some US analysts estimating actual military spending at up to three times the budget figure.

During a visit to China last October, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld urged Beijing to 'demystify' its defence spending and the intentions behind the 'growth in China's power projection.'