{"id":56401,"date":"2018-03-04T15:49:48","date_gmt":"2018-03-04T15:49:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/03\/04\/china-says-military-no-threat-but-refuses-to-reveal-budget\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T10:47:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T10:47:27","slug":"china-says-military-no-threat-but-refuses-to-reveal-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/03\/04\/china-says-military-no-threat-but-refuses-to-reveal-budget\/","title":{"rendered":"China says military no threat, but refuses to reveal budget"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">BEIJING \u2014 China has no desire to overturn the existing international order and its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/naval\/2018\/01\/23\/no-slowdown-for-chinas-navy-aspirations\/\" title=\"\" class=\"selected-link\" target=\"_blank\" data-original-title=\"\" aria-describedby=\"popover180646\">increasingly powerful military<\/a> does not constitute <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2017\/10\/31\/china-has-practiced-bombing-runs-against-guam-us-says\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">a threat to others<\/a>, the spokesman for the country\u2019s ceremonial legislature said Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, in a break with recent practice, Zhang Yesui refused to provide a figure for the rate of growth in the national defense budget. That move follows complaints that China isn\u2019t open enough about how it funds its military or what the goals of its massive campaign of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/digital-show-dailies\/singapore-airshow\/2018\/02\/05\/china-ramps-up-production-of-new-airborne-early-warning-aircraft\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">expansion and modernization<\/a> are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Zhang sought to strike a reassuring tone in remarks at a news conference on the eve of the opening of the National People\u2019s Congress\u2019 annual two-week session.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2018\/01\/30\/the-pentagon-is-planning-for-war-with-china-and-russia-can-it-handle-both\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"177\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/plaaf_j16_004.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">The Pentagon is planning for war with China and Russia \u2014 can it handle both?<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">War with China and war with Russia would have some overlapping qualities, but the Pentagon needs to figure out how and where to invest to deal with both.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He said China defended and contributed to the current United Nations-centered global order, but also said some reforms were necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cChina\u2019s development is conducive to world peace, stability and prosperity,\u201d Zhang said, pointing especially to global economic growth, trade and poverty reduction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAs to the international order, we have no intention of overthrowing everything for starting over again,\u201d Zhang said. Reforms should focus on \u201cinternational rules that have fallen behind the times and no longer align with the shared aspirations of all nations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18063152104852.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-98608\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18063152104852.jpg.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18063152104852.jpg.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18063152104852.jpg.jpg?resize=768,512 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Zhang Yesui, a spokesman for the National People&#8217;s Congress, arrive for a press conference on the eve of the annual legislature opening session at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Sunday, March 4, 2018. (Ng Han Guan\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">China\u2019s secretive military had begun to open up a crack in recent years, and the National People\u2019s Congress spokesman in recent years has made a tradition of responding to a question on the defense budget by announcing the percentage increase over the past years, at least in rough terms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Zhang, however, did not address the question of numbers, saying instead that past increases by a \u201cmodest margin\u201d had gone to equipment upgrades, training and improving welfare and living conditions for troops.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2018\/02\/17\/navy-says-it-wont-be-deterred-by-chinese-built-islands\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"157\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_18048374786881.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Navy says it won&#8217;t be deterred by Chinese-built islands<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">A Navy officer aboard a mammoth U.S. aircraft carrier brimming with F18 fighter jets said Saturday that American forces would continue to patrol the South China Sea wherever \u201cinternational law allows us\u201d when asked if China\u2019s newly built islands could restrain them in the disputed waters.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">China\u2019s defense spending as a share of GDP and the budget also remains lower than that of other major nations, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cChina proceeds from a defense policy that is defensive in nature. China\u2019s development will not pose a threat to other countries,\u201d Zhang said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The finance ministry last year said the defense budget would top 1 trillion yuan ($145 billion) for the first time, after the exact figure was initially kept out of public documents released at the start of the annual legislative sessions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That marked about a 7 percent increase, continuing a trend of lowered growth amid a slowing economy, despite regional tensions over the South China Sea and other issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Years of double-digit percentage growth have given China the world\u2019s second-largest defense budget after the United States, which is in a class of its own with a proposed budget of $716 billion for next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, China\u2019s publicly announced defense spending has never been entirely accurate since it fails to omit a significant amount of \u201coff book\u201d expenditures on defense equipment projects, said Peter Jennings, executive director of the nonpartisan Australian Strategic Policy Institute think tank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhat\u2019s alarming is not the non-reporting of largely fictitious defense spending figures so much as the Chinese leadership is shedding even the pretense of being open about its military plans,\u201d Jennings said in an email to The Associated Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Combined with President Xi Jinping\u2019s plans to eliminate term limits on his rule and his consolidation of control over the military, the lack of public information about defense spending and military planning \u201cpushes China toward a more authoritarian and militarized leadership,\u201d Jennings said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThese trends should be deeply concerning to the Asia-Pacific region and beyond,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>China has no desire to overturn the existing international order and its increasingly powerful military does not constitute a threat to others, the spokesman for the country\u2019s ceremonial legislature said Sunday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":98606,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":8,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,8,12,25],"tags":[],"coauthors":[2062],"class_list":["post-56401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-flashpoints","category-news","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"2YJT37LLZVBMDA3D2HAGFDKGMY","arc_canonical_url":"\/flashpoints\/2018\/03\/04\/china-says-military-no-threat-but-refuses-to-reveal-budget\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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