Chinese President Xi Jinping addresses a session of the Chinese Parliament in Beijing on March 13, 2023.
Beijing – Chinese President Xi Jinping wants to build a “great steel wall” out of the Chinese army. Spending on the military is set to rise by 7.2 percent this year. According to the DPA agency, he said this today at the end of this year's session of the Chinese Parliament in Beijing, at which he was already unanimously elected head of state on Friday, for an unprecedented third five-year term.
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Military modernization is necessary, according to Xia, so that China can “effectively protect national sovereignty, security and development interests”.
Beijing expects to spend about 1.35 trillion yuan on the armed forces this year , which represents the equivalent of 209 billion dollars (about 4.6 trillion CZK). That's still about three times less than the United States spends on defense.
Si also called for “reunification” with Taiwan in front of roughly 3,000 delegates. According to him, relations should develop in a “peaceful way”, but at the same time he considers it necessary to firmly reject “external interference” and Taiwan's “destructive activities” striving for independence. This time, however, Xi did not repeat the words that Beijing retains the option to take “all necessary measures”.
Communist China considers the island with a democratic government as its province and strives for unification with it. He also warns that if Taiwan declares independence, it will take military action against it. However, Taiwan has operated de facto independently since 1949.
The Taiwanese government told Beijing in March that it should respect the determination of the Taiwanese people regarding their sovereignty, democracy and freedom. Chinese Defense Minister Qiu Guocheng also said that his country will not allow repeated provocations by China. While he believes that won't happen, he says Taiwan's military is ready to fight if necessary.
