China’s military seeks bigger budget amid growing threat of US conflict
- Insiders say the PLA will want to match or exceed last year’s 7.5 per cent growth rate as tensions mount on several fronts
- While relations with Washington worsen, Beijing says it also faces threats from pro-independence forces in Taiwan, separatists in Tibet and Xinjiang
This is the fourth in a nine-part series examining the issues Chinese leaders face as they gather for their annual “two sessions” of the National People’s Congress and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference this week. This story looks at the expectations for and the implications of China’s new military budget.
China’s military leaders are fighting for a substantial increase in their budget to be announced at the National People’s Congress that starts on Friday, arguing that the world’s largest standing army needs more resources to cope with volatile challenges at home and overseas. But top of the list is the growing confrontation with the US.
From Beijing’s viewpoint, the military threats are surfacing on its doorstep with US bombers running about 40 flights over contested areas of the South China and East China seas so far this year, or more than three times the number in the same period of 2019. US Navy warships have sailed four “freedom of navigation operations” in the area in the same period, compared with eight in all of last year.
“Beijing feels security threats posed by the US and other foreign countries are increasing, so the People’s Liberation Army wants a budget increase to support its military modernisation and combat-ready training,” said Song Zhongping, a Hong Kong-based military commentator and former officer in the PLA.
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Although the actual size of China’s defence budgets are a matter of dispute, military insiders say the PLA will want to match or exceed last year’s 7.5 per cent growth rate – with one estimating a 9 per cent jump – as tensions escalate on several fronts, including the perennial Taiwan friction.