China's defense budget to exceed 280b yuan (Xinhua) Updated: 2006-03-05 11:12
China's defense budget for 2006 will rise 14.7 percent
to 280.729 billion yuan (US$35 billion), said a budget report distributed in
Beijing Sunday.
The rise marks an increase of
36.025 billion yuan (US$4.5 billion) from that of last year.
The increase of the budget is to strengthen the army's
capability to fight against a defensive war and to respond to emergencies, and
to raise soldiers' pay, said the report submitted to the Fourth Session of the
Tenth National People's Congress (NPC) , China's top legislature.
China's military spending remains at a low level compared
with some other countries, such as the United States, Britain, Japan and France,
said Jiang Enzhu, spokesman for the annual session of the NPC, on Saturday, when
answering questions from reporters at the press conference.
The annual full session of the Chinese parliament opened in
Beijing at 9:00 a.m. Sunday, with the presence of more than 2,900 deputies from
all over the country.
China's vast territory
demands the safeguard of advanced military equipment, which, however, needs
great upgrade and reinforcement at present, said Guo Xinning, a researcher with
the strategic institute under the University of National Defense.
Compared with 17.8 percent of the United States, 11.4
percent of France and 9.25 percent of Germany, China's defense budget in 2005
accounted for only 7.34 percent of the budgeted fiscal expenditure, even lower
than that in the 1970s, Guo said.
"The increase in
military budget is actually an effort to narrow the gap," the expert said.
The defense budget rise was applauded by the
country's netizens, who voiced their ideas after the news was released on
Internet.
An online critic commented on the message
board of www.sina.com that China should raise its defense budget to 10 percent
of its whole fiscal budget, as the country "stands on a weak base" of national
defense.
"There's no reason for China to have a
lower defense expenditure than other countries," another critic said.
Also on sina.com's message board, a netizen self
identified as a military man in the country's northeast said defense budget rise
is surely good news to his fellow army men. The netizen said almost half of his
fellows, whose wives are unemployed, have to shoulder the economic burden of the
family themselves.
"Every one of us expects for the
improvement of army men's living and working conditions," the netizen said.
General Wang Yufa, an NPC deputy from the People's
Liberation Army, said China adopts a defensive military strategy, and the
defense budget was raised to create a stable and safe environment for the
country's economic development.
|