China recently announced its budget for 2014-2015, with US$132 billion allocated to military expenditure, an increase of about 12% since the previous year. Sameer Patil, Associate National Security Fellow, Gateway House, highlights and analyses the important components.
China recently announced its budget for 2014-2015, with US$132 billion allocated to military expenditure. However, the actual number is likely to be much higher. This fits President Xi Jinping's idea of a Chinese dream -- national rejuvenation and modernisation of the armed forces -- but is of concern in a region that is worried about China's growing aggression regarding territorial claims. While China has expressed concern about external threats, it is the domestic security figures which are most telling and require closer attention.
China has withheld the full figures on its domestic security budget — officially called the public security budget — which includes expenditure on Chinese police, courts, jails etc. The budget only mentions an allocation of US$32 billion, which covers the figures coming in from the central government, with no mention of the provincial and regional figures. Last year, this public security budget was around US$130 billion and encompassed expenditures of the central government as well as the regional and provincial governments.
This omission is an indication of the sensitivity of the Chinese leadership regarding threats to the stability of the Chinese State, essentially arising from domestic protests - termed as 'mass incidents'- and terror attacks, the most recent being in the Kunming train station."
(Recorded at Sayani Studio, Bombay)
