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.

  • OldWoodFrame@lemm.eeEnglish
    1·
    8 months ago

    Even so, we had Russian forces gathering on the border with Ukraine as Zelensky himself said the US was being paranoid for saying they were going to invade. Some level of movement may be seen but dismissed as posturing. China regularly masses ships in the South China Sea and does war exercises.

    And, they have years to plan. If they open a new air base close to Taiwan next year and fill it with planes and parts, they don’t have to move them into place 5 years later when they actually use them against Taiwan.

    Again, I don’t know anything. But months of warning seems like a lot.