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China to increase defence spending by 12.7 per cent in 2011
China announced a hefty increase to its annual defence spending, promising to spend 601bn yuan (£56.2bn) this year as it seeks to build armed forces to match its role as a coming superpower.
Soldiers from Chinese PLA Special Operations Forces marching in formation during training session on the outskirts of Beijing Photo: REUTERS
By Peter Foster, Beijing9:16AM GMT 04 Mar 2011
The rise - a 12.7 per cent increase over 2010 spending - comes amid growing signs that China’s military rise is starting to unsettle other regional Asia-Pacific powers, including the US, Japan, India and Australia.
This week Japan scrambled an F-15 fighter to intercept two Chinese spy planes around a disputed chain of islands in the East China Sea, the latest in a series of niggling stand-offs that threaten to poison China-Japanese relations.
“China's modernisation of its military and increased activity is, along with insufficient transparency, a matter of concern,” warned Japan's chief cabinet secretary, Yukio Edano.
China will spend 601bn yuan ($91.3bn) on its 2.3m-strong People’s Liberation Army, a spokesman for the country’s rubber-stamp parliament, the National People’s Congress said, reiterating that China did not pose a threat to any country..
Analysts remain divided over whether China is initiating an Asian arms race, but India is also spending heavily to upgrade its capabilities and fend off the threat of strategic encirclement by Chinese interests and alliances in Burma, Pakistan and Sri Lanka
China announced a hefty increase to its annual defence spending, promising to spend 601bn yuan (£56.2bn) this year as it seeks to build armed forces to match its role as a coming superpower.
Soldiers from Chinese PLA Special Operations Forces marching in formation during training session on the outskirts of Beijing Photo: REUTERS
By Peter Foster, Beijing9:16AM GMT 04 Mar 2011
The rise - a 12.7 per cent increase over 2010 spending - comes amid growing signs that China’s military rise is starting to unsettle other regional Asia-Pacific powers, including the US, Japan, India and Australia.
This week Japan scrambled an F-15 fighter to intercept two Chinese spy planes around a disputed chain of islands in the East China Sea, the latest in a series of niggling stand-offs that threaten to poison China-Japanese relations.
“China's modernisation of its military and increased activity is, along with insufficient transparency, a matter of concern,” warned Japan's chief cabinet secretary, Yukio Edano.
China will spend 601bn yuan ($91.3bn) on its 2.3m-strong People’s Liberation Army, a spokesman for the country’s rubber-stamp parliament, the National People’s Congress said, reiterating that China did not pose a threat to any country..
Analysts remain divided over whether China is initiating an Asian arms race, but India is also spending heavily to upgrade its capabilities and fend off the threat of strategic encirclement by Chinese interests and alliances in Burma, Pakistan and Sri Lanka
