China to announce 2015 military budget at annual political gathering
Updated: 2015-03-03 16:34:33 KST
Military spending is sure to be one of the hot topics on the table at this year's two major political meetings in Beijing.
Chinese President Xi Jinping's vision for a strong China includes building a stronger army.
(Chinese)
"An expansion of military power according to a nation's economic growth is inevitable. The same goes for China."
China's military spending had been on the decline until 2013, but increased by 12 percent last year to more than 1-hundred-30 billion U.S. dollars, putting China behind top military spender the United States.
China's defense budget is expected to increase again this year, especially given the country's involvement in a territorial dispute with Japan over an island chain in the East China Sea and Tokyo's announcement earlier this year of its biggest defense budget ever.
(Chinese)
"National defense modernization is the key to modern warfare. It's like the nerves inside a body."
There's global interest in the upcoming announcement, as many countries try to narrow the gap in military spending with China.
China's 2015 defense budget is expected to be unveiled on the opening day of the National People's Congress on Thursday.
Kwon Soa, Arirang News.
http://www.arirang.co.kr/News/News_View.asp?nseq=176648
