Independent: China continues to increase defense spending, and this worries the West

China has announced a planned increase in its defense budget, citing the need to meet “difficult security challenges” and be able to fulfill its responsibilities as a leading power. According to the British edition of The Independent, the press secretary of the first session of the National People’s Congress, Wang Chao, confirmed this information in his interview with reporters.

China has been increasing its defense budget for more than twenty years, which has allowed it to significantly strengthen its forces and assets. Today, Beijing has not only the largest army in the world, but also the largest fleet, a large number of missile weapons and a lot of high-tech military equipment, the author of an article in The Independent notes. In addition, China has set up its first overseas military base in the African nation of Djibouti and is working to modernize the Ream naval base in Cambodia, which could give it a near-permanent presence in the Gulf of Taiwan.

Such an increase in China’s military potential raises serious concerns among the United States and its allies, especially with regard to Taiwan, which Beijing has repeatedly referred to as its territory and its readiness to use military forces to control it.