China will increase military spending by 11.2 per cent this year, reports the New York Times. National People’s Congress spokesman Li Zhaoxing made the announcement yesterday, without giving further detail as to how the additional money will be spent. A 2011 Pentagon report to Congress suggests China plans to buy “a new class of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines and more sophisticated radar systems that allow for improved over-the-horizon targeting.”
China will increase military spending by 11.2 per cent this year, reports the New York Times. National People’s Congress spokesman Li Zhaoxing made the announcement yesterday, without giving further detail as to how the additional money will be spent. A 2011 Pentagon report to Congress suggests China plans to buy “a new class of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines and more sophisticated radar systems that allow for improved over-the-horizon targeting.”
According to Reuters,”police, militia, and other security arms” will benefit from the increase: “The numbers show how vigilant China’s ruling Communist Party is against unrest, despite robust economic growth and years of budget rises for law-and-order agencies, which in 2010 pushed outlays on them past military spending for the first time.”
China’s People’s Congress starts its new annual legislative session today. It will be the last session before the Communist Party’s top leadership, including President Hu Jintao, steps down to give way to a younger generation this fall.