BEIJING — China announced Tuesday that it will again sharply increase its military spending this year, budgeting a 17.6 percent rise that is roughly equal to last year’s increase.
Disclosure of plans for a $59 billion outlay in 2008 followed a U.S. report Monday that raised questions about China’s rapidly increasing military budget and comes less than three weeks before a presidential election in Taiwan, over which China claims sovereignty.
A Chinese spokesman said the country’s decade-long military buildup does “not pose a threat to any country,” but he warned that relations with Taiwan are in a “crucial stage” and the island would “surely pay a dear price” if it were to take steps that China viewed as a declaration of independence.
A $59 billion budget is still a fraction of what the United States spends each year on its armed forces. President Bush last month requested $515 billion to fund the Pentagon, an amount that does not include the spending for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
At a Monday briefing at the Pentagon, David Sedney, deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia, reiterated the U.S. view that China’s defense establishment still severely underreports total spending and has not been clear about its intentions.
