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The Chinese government will boost its military spending by 7.2% this year, rising to a total budget of 1.56 trillion Yuan.
In U.S. dollars, China’s budget now sits at $230 billion, up nearly $16 billion from its budget in 2022. China’s Ministry of Finance announced the new infusion of cash in its annual report on Sunday. The spending increase comes as the U.S. warns of a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan in the near future. U.S. officials have also warned China against sending lethal aid to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Despite the increase, U.S. military spending still dwarfs China’s. America’s military is engaged in efforts across the globe, including the supply of weapons for defending Ukraine.
Nevertheless, China’s budget increase follows a year of unprecedented tension between China and the U.S. and Taiwan. CIA Director William Burns stated last month that Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered his military to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027.
CHINESE MILITARY AIRCRAFT ENTER TAIWAN’S AIRSPACE AS US TRACKS SURVEILLANCE BALLOON
The Chinese Communist Party is raising its 2023 military budget by 7.2% to roughly $230 billion. (Li Gang/Xinhua via AP)
China’s annual military budget now sits at 1.56 trillion Yuan, or $230 billion. (CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
AFTER CHINESE BALLOON ENTERS US AIRSPACE, BIDEN SECRETARY OF STATE POSTPONES TRIP TO CHINA
“We know as a matter of intelligence [Xi] has instructed the People’s Liberation Army to be ready by 2027 to conduct a successful invasion,” Burns said on Feb. 3. “Now, that does not mean that he’s decided to conduct an invasion in 2027, or any other year, but it’s a reminder of the seriousness of his focus and his ambition.”
“Therefore, I think it’s very much in our interest as a policy matter in the United States to make clear our commitment to the status quo, to make clear we are not interested as a country in changing that status quo, that we are deeply opposed to anyone trying to…
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