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| Feuding With the US, China's Military Budget Increases Massively Worth 1.56 Trillion Yuan |
Beijing - In the midst of an increasingly heated feud with the United States (US), China decided to increase its military spending by 7.2% this year. The military budget rose to a total of 1.56 trillion Yuan.
In US dollars, Beijing's military budget is now at USD 230 billion, up nearly USD 16 billion from the 2022 budget. China's Ministry of Finance has announced the latest increase in military spending in its annual report on Sunday, AP news agency reported Monday (6/3/2023).
The increase in spending comes as the US warns of a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan in the near future. US officials have also warned China against sending lethal weapons to support Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Despite increasing, US military spending still dwarfs that of China.
The American military is involved in efforts around the world, including supplying weapons to defend Ukraine. For your information, the US military budget currently reaches USD 761.6 billion.
Nonetheless, China's increase in military spending follows a year of unprecedented tension between China and the US and Taiwan.
CIA Director William Burns stated last month that Chinese President Xi Jinping had ordered his military to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027. "We know intelligence [Xi Jinping] has instructed the People's Liberation Army to be ready by 2027 for a successful invasion," said Burns on February 3. "Now, that's not to say that he's decided to mount an invasion in 2027, or any other year, but it's a reminder of the seriousness of his focus and ambition." “Therefore, I think it's very important for us as a matter of policy in the United States to be clear about our commitment to the status quo, to make it clear that we as a country are not interested in changing that status quo, that we are very much opposed to anyone trying to change it unilaterally. , especially by using force," the CIA director added.
Tensions escalated in Taiwan in August 2022 after then-US Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi visited the self-governing island. China expressed anger at the move, even though members of the US Parliament frequently visit the island.
China's military conducted live-fire drills around Taiwan for weeks after Pelosi's visit, a realistic simulation of an invasion. Taiwan split from mainland China in 1949 when democratic forces fled to the island after losing a civil war to the Chinese Communist Party. Mainland China has claimed ownership of the island of Taiwan since then, even though it has functioned as a democracy.