習掌權後年年加 中國軍費料破1.4萬億

Recently the Apple Daily Online in Hong Kong reported the following:

蘋果日報【兩岸頭條】2019年03月05

習掌權後年年加 中國軍費料破1.4萬億

全國人大今天召開，人大發言人昨在記者會上面對中國軍費增長的「必答題」時，再次迴避公佈中國軍費預算數字。中國軍費預算自習近平掌權後一路快速飆升，2017年突破1萬億人民幣，而預計2019年此數字或將接近1.2萬億人民幣（約1.4萬億港元）。

全國人大開幕前一天的新聞發佈會是外界觀察人大的重要窗口，主要是介紹會議議程及有關安排等，並回答記者提問。自中國2017年軍費突破1萬億人民幣後，為防止外界忌憚，無論是人大的記者會還是總理李克強的政府工作報告都不再提及軍費的具體數字。人大發言人張業遂在2018年，便未有按慣例透露中國軍費增長數字。今年他在回應彭博社記者關於中國國防預算問題時，仍然顧左右而言他，避談具體數字和增幅。張僅表示，縱向地看，從2016年起，中國的國防費從連續5年兩位數增長，降到了單位數。橫向比較，2018年中國的國防費佔GDP的比例約為1.3%，而同期一些主要發達國家的國防費佔國內生產總值的比例都在2%以上。張強調，中國有限的國防費完全是為了維護國家的主權、安全和領土完整，不會對其他國家構成威脅。

習近平自2012上台以來，大力推動「軍改」加大體制編制改革，強軍政策之下前三年的軍費一直以兩位數級別增長，2015年實施裁軍30萬的政策之後，軍費增幅下降至個位數級別。然而近年隨着解放軍逐漸加強構築海空軍建設，邊境爭議地區、海域危機加深，軍費增幅有可能再度上漲。

英國國際戰略研究所公佈的2018年國家軍費排名顯示，美國以6,430億美元（約5.04萬億港元）的開支遙遙領先於世界各國，而中國則以1,682億美元（約1.32萬億港元）居世界第二，沙地、俄羅斯、印度則緊隨其後。而2019年的美國國防預算將達到7,160億美元（約5.62萬億港元）。

除了對外的軍費問題，中共的公共安全開支同樣值得關注。2018年中國的維穩費近1.26萬億元人民幣（約1.47萬億港元)，料在今年再有增長。由於華為間諜問題甚囂塵上，2017年通過的《國家情報法》同樣被提及，該法第七條要求中國國內任何組織和公民要「依法支持、協助和配合國家情報工作」。張業遂指，該法主要是維護中國的國家安全和利益，不是為了侵害他國的安全利益。他批評美國拿《國家情報法》說事，渲染特定中國企業產品存在所謂安全風險，是以政治手段干預經濟行為。

今年的全國人大會議共持續10天，3月5日上午舉行開幕會，並聽取李克強關於政府工作報告、預算報告等。3月15日上午舉行第四次全體會議，表決各項工作報告的決議草案，表決《中華人民共和國外商投資法（草案）》。閉幕後，李克強將舉行記者會。

新華社/英國國際戰略研究所

Translation

China’s military spending was expected to exceed 1.4 trillion – increased every year since Xi was in power

The National People's Congress was held today. At the press conference yesterday, when the NPC spokesperson was asked the "must answer question" regarding China's military spending, he again avoided making known China's military budget. China’s military budget has risen rapidly since Xi's inauguration, and it has surpassed RMB 1 trillion in 2017. It is expected that this figure will approach 1.2 trillion yuan (about 1.4 trillion Hong Kong dollars) in 2019.

The press conference was held one day before the opening of the National People's Congress and is an important window for the outside world to observe the NPC. It mainly introduces the agenda of the meeting and related arrangements, and answers questions from reporters. Since China’s military spending had exceeded 1 trillion yuan in 2017; in order to prevent outside fears, no matter whether it is the NPC press conference or the premier Li Keqiang’s government work report, no specific figures on military spending were mentioned. In 2018, the spokesman of the National People's Congress, Zhang Yesui, did not disclose the increase in China's military spending as a practice. This year, in response to a Bloomberg reporter's question about China's defense budget, Zhang still cared about and avoided telling specific figures and increases. Zhang only said that, from a vertical perspective, since 2016, China’s defense spending had decreased from double digits for five consecutive years to a single digit. In horizontal comparison, China’s defense spending as a percentage of GDP in 2000 was about 1.3%, while the proportion of defense spending in some major developed countries accounted for over 2% of GDP. Zhang stressed that China's limited defense spending was solely for the purpose of safeguarding the country's sovereignty, security and territorial integrity, and would not pose a threat to other countries.

Since taking office in 2012, Xi Jinping has vigorously promoted the "military reform" to increase the system changes. Under the strong military policy, the military expenditures in the first three years have been growing at double-digit levels. After the implementation of a policy of disarmament of 300,000 in 2015, the increase in military spending has dropped to single digit level. However, in recent years, with the PLA gradually strengthening its construction of the navy and air force, together with the deepened disputes along border areas and in sea areas, an increase in military spending is likely to rise again.

The 2018 National Military Ranking on military spending published by the UK Institute for International Strategic Studies shows that the United States is far ahead of the rest of the world with $643 billion (about 5.04 trillion Hong Kong dollars), while China is second in the world with $168.2 billion (about 1.32 trillion Hong Kong dollars), followed by Saudi Arabia, Russia, and India closely behind. The US defense budget for 2019 will reach $716 billion (about 5.62 trillion Hong Kong dollars).

In addition to the external military expenses, the CCP’s internal public security expenditures are also worthy of attention. In 2018, China's peacekeeping costs were nearly 1.26 trillion yuan (about 1.47 trillion Hong Kong dollars), and it is expected to grow again this year. As the issue of Huawei's espionage is rampant, the “National Intelligence Law” passed in 2017 is also mentioned. Article 7 of the Act requires any organization and citizen in China to "support, assist and cooperate with national intelligence work according to law." Zhang Yesui said that the law is mainly to safeguard China's national security and interests and would not infringe on the security interests of other countries. He criticized the United States for taking up the "National Intelligence Law" issue to generate stories, rendering the so-called security risks of certain Chinese companies' products, and interfering with economic behaviors by political means.

This year's National People's Congress would be held for a total of 10 days, it starts with an opening meeting in the morning of March 5 to listen to Li Keqiang's report on government work and budget reports. The fourth plenary meeting would be held in the morning of March 15 to vote on the draft resolutions of various work reports and also to vote on the Foreign Investment Law of the People's Republic of China (Draft). After the closing ceremony, Li Keqiang will hold a press conference.

Xinhua News Agency / UK Institute for International Strategy

Comments
     This article has summarized the present outlook of China in terms of military spending and in internal security maintenance. It shows that although China is already a big spender on homeland security, it still has much to worry in its social stability.