Chinese military experts stressed that China's defence expenditures
have been kept at a fairly low level and the increases have been
basically of a compensatory nature.
Chen Zhou, a researcher with the Academy of Military Science of the
People's Liberation Army (AMSPLA), said that the just-issued white
paper on "," is practical and realistic.
Chen said in an interview with Beijing-based media that China's
defence expenditures have increased somewhat based on the country's
continuous economic growth, but defence spending relative to State
financial spending has been on the decline, from 17.37 percent in
1979 to 7.65 percent in 2001, a drop of nearly 10 percentage
points.
The white paper released on Monday indicates that increased defence
spending in recent years has primarily been to meet increased
personnel expenses, to establish and improve the social security
system for servicemen, and increase the standard of living. Money
has also gone to progressive office automation and co-operation
with the international community on anti-terrorism activities.
Another portion of the spending increase was used to improve
military equipment, and to enhance defence capabilities using high
technologies.
"Our new military strategy is to win battles or wars with high
technology," said Chen. "High technology takes more money."
Meanwhile, Chen said that compared with other countries such as the
United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, and France, China's
defence expenditures are still at a fairly low level.
"Our defence expenditure is less than 6 percent of that of the US
and about half that of Japan," Chen said.
(China Daily December 13, 2002)