China's military budget has maintained a two-digit increase over
the last 10 or more years .
Military analysts and think tanks in some countries are using
this to cook up the theory of a military threat from China,
claiming that the military expenditure growth goes beyond China's
actual defense needs.
We have time and again reiterated that China is iron-clad in its
determination to take the road of peaceful development and its
military strategy is oriented to defense.
The growth in its defense budget can be attributed to a number
of factors.
First, the defense budget growth is aimed at paying off the old
bill.
Economics, not class struggle, topped the agenda of the whole
country when reform and opening-up were launched in the late 1970s.
This meant that economic, industrial and educational sectors
claimed priority in getting government money. The military had to
take the back bench.
As a result, military spending has seen negative growth over the
years. Although the actual amount remained unchanged, inflation
eroded the expenditure. The sharpest yearly decline registered as
much as five percentage points.
As a result, military hardware and equipment of the People's
Liberation Army became outdated, defense facilities were in
disrepair and military professionals drained away.
Starting from the mid-1990s, the country began to increase its
defense budget, largely to pay off the outstanding debt so that the
Chinese military forces could remain vital.
So, when we calculate the increase in the defense budget over
the last 10 years or so, we should also take into account the
negative military spending growth in the preceding decade.
Second, China has to expand its spending on sophisticated
military technology so that it will not be left hopelessly behind
other countries.
In recent years, waves of military technology upgrades rippled
across the world. The updating is marked by universal application
of computer networks, artificial intelligence and development of
space weapons. In contrast, the Chinese military forces are still
at the phase of mechanization and semi-mechanization. In overall
terms, the Chinese military trails its counterparts in advanced
nations by 15 to 20 years.
Confronted by this stark reality, the Chinese military needs to
shorten the distance between it and its world peers.
Military information technology is expensive. It is an
especially herculean task for the Chinese military to be engaged in
information-technology-oriented undertakings while making up the
missed lessons in military mechanization.
All this dictates that China's defense budget increase by a
significant margin in a certain period of time.
Third, the Chinese military forces are obligated with enormous
responsibilities in defending the country's thousands upon
thousands of kilometers of boundaries and coastlines. New needs for
the Chinese military forces have emerged in recent years: To get
more extensively involved in the United Nations' peace-keeping
missions and to fight terrorism; to combat piracy in international
waters, drug trafficking and cross-border crimes; to safeguard the
security of sea lanes through which vitally important resources
such as oil are shipped to China. All this demands more financial
resources.
Fourth, China pays more dearly than other countries in acquiring
state-of-the-art military technology.
For many countries, military modernization means, importing
sophisticated hardware and equipment. China is no exception.
While Japan, Britain, Israel and Australia, all allies of the
United States, can buy the most advanced weapons directly from the
United States and share the latest military purpose software, China
has to develop all this on its own.
Even India enjoys much easier access to advanced Western
military hardware, thanks to a host of international political
factors.
Why the discrimination? This is because the United States and
other Western countries, which are constantly on guard against
China's rise, impose strict restrictions on arms sales to
China.
Research and development of advanced weapons from scratch means
that China, an economically backward country, has to sustain a
higher cost than developed countries.
Even though China can buy some advanced technology, it has to
pay much more than others.
Fifth, the Chinese armed forces have the responsibility of
maintaining the sovereignty and territorial integration of the
country.
The Taiwan authorities are aggressively pushing for Taiwan
independence in an attempt to split the island province from the
motherland.
Just as any country in the world would not tolerate its
dismemberment, the Chinese government will never allow
Taiwan-independence elements to have their way.
While showing the utmost sincerity and trying its best to
develop cross-Straits relations in the direction of peace and
stability, the central government has to prepare for any possible
emergencies, with thwarting a Taiwan independence attempt with
force as the last resort.
Apart from these major factors that contribute to the increase
in China's military spending, there is another contributing factor
the increase in mineral resource prices.
Despite the increase in the country's defense budget for 10
straight years, China's military spending is still comparatively
low, in both absolute numbers and in per capita spending.
The author is a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Military
Sciences
(China Daily March 28, 2007)
