cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/16827256

China will boost its defence spending by 7.2% this year, fuelling a military budget that has more than doubled under President Xi Jinping’s 11 years in office as Beijing hardens its stance on Taiwan, according to official reports on Tuesday.

China also officially adopted tougher language against Taiwan as it released the budget figures, dropping the mention of “peaceful reunification” in a government report delivered by Premier Li Qiang at the opening of the National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s rubber-stamp parliament, on Tuesday.

  • Alsephina@lemmy.mlEnglish
    134·
    9 months ago

    They’ve left out that part before, this is kind of a nothingburger and just reads as warmongering tbh.

    military budget that has more than doubled under President Xi Jinping’s 11 years in office

    …Because the entire economy has doubled in size in that time. China’s defense spending as a percentage of the gdp has actually gone down the past few decades.

  • naturalgasbad
    31·
    9 months ago

    Some guy rolls a dice to decide if they want to mention it. It’s the most nothingburger of nothingburgers. It’s happened multiple times in the past and it’ll keep happening.

  • hackerwacker@lemmy.ml
    1314·
    9 months ago

    They didn’t include the phrase in a report == they’re gonna invade?

    I guess, if you’re a braindead natocucked reporter.

    Although it is not the first time that China had omitted the word “peaceful”, the change in language is closely watched as a possible sign of more assertive stance towards Taiwan.

    lol