China Announces 17.8% Jump In Military Spending for 2007
BEIJING — China yesterday announced a 17.8% jump in military spending for 2007, its largest in a decade, less than two months after an anti-satellite missile test sent shock waves through foreign capitals. The increase also follows repeated criticism from the Bush administration that Beijing has not been adequately forthcoming in explaining such increases and its long-term military objectives.
A government spokesman, Jiang Enzhu, told reporters at the cavernous Great Hall of the People that China's latest $44.9 billion budget was in line with economic growth and did not threaten the rest of the world.
"China has neither the wherewithal nor the intention to enter into an arms race with any country, and China won't constitute a threat to any country," he said on the eve of the National People's Congress, China's parliament, which opens a 12-day session today.
Mr. Jiang pointed out that China's military budget was a shadow of America's. The Bush administration has requested a $484.1 billion budget for the Defense Department in the fiscal year beginning in October, an 11.3% increase. That figure does not include military spending in Iraq and Afghanistan or some nuclear weapons programs under the Department of Energy.
