Chinese military officers said a 17.6 percent rise in defense spending announced yesterday wasn't enough, grumbling that poorly paid soldiers are shivering in unheated barracks and lack modern equipment.
China's Finance Minister Xiang Huaicheng (
The modernization of the 2.5-million-member PLA, the world's biggest military, has unnerved some Asian countries that have territorial disputes with Beijing.
Yet military delegates to the National People's Congress said the increase still isn't enough.
It "doesn't satisfy the military's needs," said General Song Qingwei, one of more than 250 legislators representing the PLA. "Many barracks in cold areas don't have heating."
"Troops and officers have to eat, live and repair equipment," he said. "We have to appropriately increase our military spending."
The 166 billion yuan (US$20 billion) budget is a 25.2 billion yuan increase over last year, according to Xiang. It is slightly below last year's 17.7 percent rise, a record in real terms when inflation is taken into account.
The money is needed "to utilize modern technology, especially high technology, to raise our army's defense and combat capabilities," Xiang told delegates.
The ruling Communist Party needs the PLA both to defend China's sprawling territory and to cement its control as leaders in their 70s prepare to hand power to a younger generation over the next year.
Another officer, Deng Hongmo, said finances are still tight.
"Our military budget is very small compared to other major countries," he said. "Our equipment is still backward."
China is spending heavily on warplanes, submarines and other weapons from Russia -- purchases thought not to be included in the publicly announced budget.
But with soldiers' wages as low as several hundred yuan (less than US$100) a month, the military is having trouble attracting qualified personnel.
"The PLA has to compete much more vigorously to attract and retain the skilled personnel increasingly required as a result of its acquisition of more and more advanced systems," said Robert Karniol, Asia-Pacific editor for Jane's Defense Weekly.
Western experts say China's true military spending is two and a half to five times the official figure. But China insists that its spending is low compared to other major countries. It says its military modernization does not threaten its Asian neighbors.
"It's all purely for defense," said a civilian legislator from the eastern province of Shandong. He gave only his surname, Sun.
"We just want to see the living standards for the officers and the men rise to a decent level. This increase is absolutely reasonable and our military budget is still so very, very small."
Meanwhile, the US State Department adopted a non-committal stance on Tuesday to reports that China will hike its defense budget.
China has a program of military modernization, we monitor that program closely, particularly with regard to its impact on regional peace and stability," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique