Beijing: China on Tuesday appeared not keen to join US President Donald Trump’s proposal for a 50 per cent cut in defence budget by the US, Russia and China saying that its “limited” defence spending is to protect its sovereignty, security and development interests.
China’s “limited defence spending is completely out of the need of safeguarding national sovereignty, security and development interests, and the need of maintaining world peace,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said reacting to Trump’s proposals floated earlier this month.
Media reports had quoted Trump as saying on February 13 that “one of the first meetings I want to have is with President Xi of China, President Putin of Russia. And I want to say: ‘Let’s cut our military budget in half’.
“And we can do that. And I think we’ll be able to do it,” he said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, in his reaction on Monday, termed it as a good idea.
“I think it’s a good idea. The US would cut by 50 per cent and we would cut by 50 per cent and then China would join, if it wanted,” Putin was quoted as saying in a television interview.
Asked for his reaction to Trump and Putin’s comments, Lin told a media briefing here that China is committed to peaceful development but its “limited” defence spending is to defend its sovereignty and development interests.
“China upholds a self-defence strategy, pursues coordinated development between its economy and national defence, and never engages in any arms race with any country”, he said adding that Beijing has worked for world peace through concrete actions and injected stability and certainty to the world.
China, which is the second largest spender on defence after the US, last year increased its defence budget by 7.2 per cent to about USD 232 billion (1.67 trillion Yuan) as it continues with the massive modernisation of its military of all its armed forces.
Speculation is rife that Beijing may increase its defence spending this year too amid Trump’s assertion to further ramp up the US military.
China is due to unveil its annual budget, including the defence spending at the annual session of its Parliament, the National People’s Congress, (NPC) which is scheduled to begin from March 5.
Lin said the global defence spending reached an all time high last year. “According to statistics, the global defence spending of 2024 is about USD 2.43 trillion, an all-time high. Behind the steady rise in global defence spending is increasingly tense international and regional security situation and growing security deficit,” he said.
“All parties face the common challenge of global security governance. The international community, especially major countries, must take the lead in serving as a propeller for global solidarity and an anchor for world peace,” he said.
