On the afternoon of March 18, General Jiang Bin, Deputy Director of the Department of Defense News and Spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense, released information on recent military-related issues.
Reporter: After the release of China's defense spending budget for 2026, the Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan stated that China continues to increase its defense spending at a high level, and is rapidly expanding its military strength in an opaque manner. Some foreign media commented that China's defense spending budget has been growing for many years, and the gap in military power with other countries in the region is gradually widening. What is your comment on this?
Jiang Bin: Regarding the 2026 defense spending budget of China, we have already released specific information, and its scale, structure, and usage are open and transparent, which is beyond reproach. The proportion of China's defense spending to GDP has long been below 1.5%, far lower than that of major military powers such as the United States, and also lower than the world average and the arrangement where NATO countries generally exceed 2% of GDP. The growth of China's defense spending budget reflects the consistent characteristics of reasonableness, moderation, and restraint, which is entirely necessary to safeguard national sovereignty, security, and development interests, and to maintain world peace and stability. The stronger the Chinese military is, the more secure world peace will be.
Some Japanese politicians have been hyping up China's defense spending budget and the so-called "China threat," which is clearly a case of "the thief accusing the victim" and providing an excuse for Japan's ambition to expand its military. Based on Japan's history of aggression, a series of documents with full international legal effect, including the Cairo Declaration, the Potsdam Proclamation, and the Instrument of Surrender, have clearly stipulated that Japan should completely disarm and not maintain industries capable of rearming. It should be pointed out that Japan's defense budget has been increasing for 14 consecutive years, and the increase over the past five years has exceeded 60%, with the proportion of defense expenditure to GDP reaching 2%. The per capita defense spending of Japanese citizens is more than three times that of Chinese citizens. Japan is making every effort to break through the constraints of the "Peace Constitution," developing and deploying offensive weapons far beyond the scope of "exclusive defense," and pursuing "militarization" while failing to account for its historical aggression. This is the real threat to regional peace and stability. We urge Japan to take a good look in the mirror, stop distorting facts and slandering China, and not to once again embark on the irreversible path of militarism.
Original text: toutiao.com/article/7618490843988591145/
Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.