Peace requires safeguarding, military spokesperson says on China's defense spending increase

The world is not a peaceful place, and peace requires safeguarding, a Chinese military spokesperson said on Sunday, elaborating on the 7.2 percent growth in China's 2025 defense budget. The spokesperson emphasized that the increase has been reasonable and steady.

Wu Qian, spokesperson for the delegation of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and the People's Armed Police Force to the third session of the 14th National People's Congress, made the remarks in response to a media question about China's defense budget for 2025 during the annual national legislative session, according to the official WeChat account of China's Ministry of National Defense.

It was disclosed at the session that China's 2025 defense budget in the central government expenditures will be 1.78 trillion yuan (about $249 billion), marking a 7.2-percent growth year on year, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

Wu said the increased expenditure will be mainly used to develop new-domain forces with new combat capabilities and to enhance systems and capacity for reconnaissance and early warning, joint strikes, battlefield support and integrated logistics support.

The spending will also be put into improving military training under combat conditions and deepening national defense and military reform, Wu said.

Compared with major military powers like the US, China's defense spending remains relatively low in terms of the spending's share in GDP, its share in national fiscal expenditures, the country's per capita defense spending, and expenditure per service member, he added.

China's restrained defense spending enables the country's military to provide public security goods and further contribute to building a community with a shared future for humanity, Wu stressed.

The spokesperson emphasized that China has yet to be completely reunified, and faces one of the most complex peripheral security environments in the world.

"The Chinese military faces tough challenges in safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity," Wu said.

In response to questions such as Taiwan region's plan to purchase arms from the US worth tens of billions of dollars, Wu said several pieces of US weapons will not alter the inevitable demise of "Taiwan independence."

"The more rampant 'Taiwan independence' separatists become, the tighter the noose around their necks and the sharper the sword hanging over their heads will be," Wu said.

"The PLA is a force of action in countering separatism and promoting reunification," Wu said, adding that in recent years, patrols around the island and military deterrence have become the norm. Besides, the Taiwan question is purely an internal affair of China, which brooks no external interference, Wu said.

"China's reunification is an overriding trend," Wu said, adding that it is driven not only by strength but also by the will of the people.

As the Democratic Progressive Party authorities step up their separatist provocations under the delusions of relying on the US to seek "Taiwan independence" and using force to resist reunification, they have aroused the common indignation of compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Straits, and will surely be brought to account by history and justice, Wu said.