China's defence spending this year will rise at the slowest rate in three decades but will still increase by 6.6% from 2019, as the country grapples with what it sees as growing security threats and a wilting economy.
BEIJING - China’s defence spending this year will rise at the slowest rate in three decades but will still increase by 6.6% from 2019, as the country grapples with what it sees as growing security threats and a wilting economy.
China’s economy shrank 6.8% in the first quarter of 2020 from a year earlier, as the novel coronavirus spread from the central city of Wuhan, where it emerged late last year. Despite the coronavirus outbreak, the armed forces of China and the United States have remained active in the disputed South China Sea and around Chinese-claimed Taiwan.
“That said, 6.6% growth is not insignificant and is perhaps multiples higher than expected GDP growth for the coming year,” he said. “A rollback on military modernisation, especially in numerical terms expressed in the defence budget, could send a wrong signal to the domestic and external audiences,” Koh said.
“China continues to announce big defence spending increases and we urge it to be transparent about that spending, its military strength and national defence policy,” Japan Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said on Friday.
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