China's defence budget will probably return to double-digit growth this year because domestic inflationary pressure will increase the cost of weapon upgrades and peace-keeping missions overseas, military experts said.
The level of the military budget's growth is expected to be announced on Friday, the day before the opening of the National People's Congress session. Beijing-based military expert Song Xiaojun said the participation of the People's Liberation Army in the evacuation and rescue of Chinese nationals in Libya had exposed a slew of weaknesses in army systems. That alone would demand a large financial boost.
'The PLA sent both navy and air forces to take part in the Libyan operation,' Song said. 'But we found that our Xuzhou frigate was too small and weak to evacuate our nationals, while the air force's IL-76 MD transport aircraft were all Russian-made planes.
'I believe the increase in our military budget should exceed 10 per cent this year. Otherwise, it's not enough to develop and restore our defences, which the PLA needs to cope with new challenges for their new roles overseas.'
On Friday, the Xuzhou, which was in the Gulf of Aden on an anti-piracy mission, was sent to support and protect the more than 30,000 Chinese nationals evacuated from Libya on civilian ships. It was the first time the PLA had intervened in an international humanitarian crisis. Three days later, the air force sent four IL-76 MD cargo aircraft from China to the riot-torn country.
With hundreds of thousands of Chinese workers and technicians working in unstable developing countries for Chinese companies, Song said the PLA's overseas role would become more important and tougher. 'All the overseas investments are our national core interests. It's the duty of our naval and air forces to protect the lives of our nationals and our country's overseas property,' Song said.
