BEIJING - China
on Friday hiked its defence budget for 2003 by 9.6
percent, the 14th increase in as many years, to modernize
the 2.5-million-strong military with high-tech weaponry to deter
Taiwan from seceding and safeguard national sovereignty.
"Expenditures for national defence
in the federal budget for 2003 amount to 185.3
billion yuan (US$22.43 billion), an increase of 9.6
percent," Finance Minister Xiang Huaicheng said,
presenting the national budget for the current year on the
second day of the National People's Congress (NPC),
China's parliament.
Defending the near-double-digit
hike, Xiang said the military has to adapt to "changes
in the international situation, safeguarding national
security and sovereignty and territorial integrity
and raising the combat effectiveness of the armed
forces in fighting wars to defend the country with the
use of high technology".
The 9.6 percent figure is more
than the gross domestic product growth of about 7 percent that
outgoing Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji has set for this
year.
Commenting on the spending increase,
defense analysts here said it was more or less expected
seeing as the world's largest standing army, the
People's Liberation Army (PLA), is in the process of
modernizing with the induction of more high-tech weaponry
from countries such as Russia and Israel.
At the same time, it was pointed out that
the real budget for the military could be between three and four times
the published figure.
