External attempts to suppress and contain China are escalating, says outgoing premier Li Keqiang
\n BEIJING
\nChina said Sunday its military spending would rise at the fastest pace in four years, warning of \u201cescalating\u201d threats from abroad at a meeting of its rubber-stamp parliament that is set to hand Xi Jinping a third term as president.
\nThe increase in the world\u2019s second-largest defence budget came as Beijing announced an economic growth goal of around five percent for this year \u2013 one of its lowest in decades.
\nThe country\u2019s planned budgets for the year put defence spending at 1.55 trillion yuan ($225 billion), a 7.2 percent rise and the quickest rate of increase since 2019. It officially rose 7.1 percent last year.
\nOutgoing Premier Li Keqiang told delegates to the National People\u2019s Congress (NPC) that \u201cexternal attempts to suppress and contain China are escalating\u201d.
\n\u201cThe armed forces should intensify military training and preparedness across the board,\u201d he said as he presented the government\u2019s annual work report to thousands of amassed delegates in Beijing\u2019s Great Hall of the People.
\nThe military must \u201cdevote greater energy to training under combat conditions, and\u2026 strengthen military work in all directions and domains\u201d, he added.
\nChina\u2019s defence spending still pales in comparison with the United States, which has allotted over $800 billion for its military this year.
\nBut analysts have said Beijing spends much more money than the officially announced sums.
\nThe ramped-up spending comes during a low point in relations between China and the United States.
\nBeijing and Washington have butted heads in recent years over trade, human rights and other issues, but relations soured even further last month when the US shot down a Chinese balloon it said was being used for surveillance \u2013 a claim strenuously denied by Beijing.
\nTop American officials have also repeatedly warned that China may invade Taiwan in the coming years, pointing to Beijing\u2019s increasingly assertive military moves around the self-ruled island, which it sees as its own territory and has vowed to bring under its control.
\nNiklas Swanstrom, director of the Stockholm-based nonprofit the Institute for Security and Development Policy, said Beijing appeared to be \u201cinvesting in its capacity to take over Taiwan and keep the US out of the region\u201d.
\n\u201cWe have a military arms race in Northeast Asia, and Chinese armaments are driving this forward,\u201d he added.
\nJames Char, an expert on China\u2019s military at Singapore\u2019s Nanyang Technological University pointed out that several countries across Asia were boosting their defence spending, in part due to \u201ctheir respective threat perceptions of the regional security landscape\u201d.
\n\u2018Steady recovery\u2019
\nExperts expect few surprises at this week\u2019s carefully choreographed NPC, with thousands of politicians coming from across China to vote on laws and personnel changes pre-approved by the ruling Communist Party (CCP).
\nSunday\u2019s conservative economic goals followed China posting just three percent growth last year, missing its stated target of around 5.5 percent by a wide margin as the economy strained under the impact of strict Covid-19 containment policies and a property crisis.
\n\u201cThe growth target came in at the low end of the market expectation. But it should be taken as a floor of growth the government is willing to tolerate,\u201d said Zhiwei Zhang, president and chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management.
\n\u201cGiven the very low base of economic activities last year, it is unlikely to see growth drop below five percent,\u201d he said.
\nLi struck a bullish tone in his speech, saying China\u2019s economy \u201cis staging a steady recovery and demonstrating vast potential and momentum for further growth\u201d.
\nHe lauded Beijing\u2019s growth-suppressing Covid curbs \u2013 abruptly abandoned late last year \u2013 and \u201ceffective and well-coordinated\u201d economic and social development.
\n\u201cOvercoming great difficulties and challenges, we succeeded in maintaining overall stable economic performance,\u201d he said.
\nXi dominant
\nAlso top of the NPC\u2019s agenda will be Friday\u2019s norm-busting reappointment of Xi as president, after he locked in another five years as head of the party and the military \u2013 the two most significant leadership positions in Chinese politics \u2013 at an October congress.
\nSince then, the 69-year-old Xi\u2019s leadership has faced unexpected challenges and scrutiny, with protests over his zero-Covid policy and a deadly coronavirus surge after it was subsequently dropped.
\nBut those issues are almost certain to be avoided at this week\u2019s Beijing conclave, which will also see the unveiling of a Xi confidant and former Shanghai party chief Li Qiang as the new premier.
\nDelegates to the NPC \u2013 and to the concurrent \u201cpolitical consultative conference\u201d (CPPCC) that began on Saturday \u2013 will also discuss issues ranging from the economic recovery to improved sex education in schools, according to state media reports.
\nThe meetings serve as a forum for attendees to present pet projects, but they have little say in broader questions of how China is run.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
External attempts to suppress and contain China are escalating, says outgoing premier Li Keqiang BEIJING China said Sunday its military spending would rise at the fastest pace in four years, warning of \u201cescalating\u201d threats from abroad at a meeting of its rubber-stamp parliament that is set to hand Xi Jinping a third term as president. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":317729,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-317706","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n