A J-20 fighter performs at the 12th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition (Airshow China) in Zhuhai, south China's Guangdong Province, Nov. 11, 2018. The air show closed on Sunday. (Xinhua)

 



China has set its 2020 defense budget growth target at 6.6 percent, and a military spokesperson said on Tuesday that a moderate and steady increase in the nation's defense expenditure is right, proper and necessary.

China's defense budget growth in 2019 was 7.5 percent.

The spokesperson reiterated that Taiwan secessionists are bound to meet a dead end and an armed confrontation will result in their own doom.

China has both economic and military development in mind, and national defense should be developed in coordination with economic development, said Wu Qian, spokesperson for the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and People's Armed Police Force delegation to the 3rd session of the 13th National People's Congress.

The scale and allocation of the defense expenditure is properly based on China's economic development situation and national defense requirements, Wu said.

China has been facing new risks and challenges in its national defense in recent times, Wu said.

Judging from the perspective of the whole world, hegemony and power politics grew from time to time, as some countries are practicing unilateralism, geopolitical risks are rising, and the international security system and order are being challenged. It can be said that this not a peaceful world, noted Wu.

From a domestic point of view, there have been multidimensional and complicated security risks, as there are more serious anti-secession missions, with the Democratic Progressive Party authorities (in Taiwan) relying on foreign forces and going further on its way to secession. China's homeland security and overseas interests are also facing some real threats, Wu said.

China must have a clear mind when it comes to national defense and be prepared for danger in peace time, Wu said.

An increase in defense expenditure is also needed so the Chinese military can fulfill more international responsibilities, Wu said, noting that as the Chinese military grows in strength, the international community is expecting it to provide more public security goods.

The Chinese military has been actively supporting UN peacekeeping operations, and sent 35 task groups of naval warships to the Gulf of Aden and waters off Somalia for routine escort missions, actively participating in international disaster relief work and winning general appreciation from the international community.

Maintaining a moderate and steady increase in defense expenditure will help the Chinese military carry out the idea of a community with a shared future for mankind, fulfill the international responsibilities that the military of a major country should shoulder, and contribute even more to building a wonderful world of lasting peace and widespread safety, Wu said.

China sticks firmly to the path of peaceful development and upholds national defense policies that are defensive in nature. China's defense expenditure is public and transparent, and the spending is reasonable and appropriate, Wu said.

"Compared with the needs for safeguarding national defense, security and development interests, fulfilling its international obligation and responsibility as a major country and supporting its own development, China's defense expenditure is far from enough," he said.

China's defense budget 2011-2020 Inforgraphic: GT

 

Wu also slammed US support and plans to sell weapons to the island of Taiwan.

He said that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China and the Taiwan question is China's internal affair, and that China will not accept any foreign interference.

Separating Taiwan from China is a dead end, and confronting (the Chinese mainland) by force will bring destruction on themselves, Wu warned.

China will not allow anyone, any organization or any political party to separate any part of Chinese territory from the nation at any time in any way. The PLA has firm will, full confidence and enough capability to thwart any kind of secessionist attempt by foreign forces, and will take any necessary measures to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity and maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits, Wu said.

Global Times