China has announced a planned increase in its defense budget, citing the need to address “tough security challenges” and be able to meet its responsibilities as a leading power. According to the British edition of The Independent, the press secretary of the first session of the National People’s Congress, Wang Chao, confirmed this information in his interview with journalists.
China has been increasing its defense budget for more than twenty years, which has enabled it to significantly strengthen its forces and resources. Today, Beijing has not only the largest army in the world, but also the largest fleet, a large number of missile weapons and a lot of high-tech military equipment, notes the author of an article in The Independent. Additionally, China has set up its first overseas military base in the African nation of Djibouti and is working to upgrade the Ream naval base in Cambodia, which could give it a near-permanent presence in the Gulf of Taiwan.
Such an increase in China’s military potential raises serious concerns among the United States and its allies, particularly with regard to Taiwan, which Beijing has repeatedly called territory and its willingness to use military forces to control it. .
