BEIJING: China dismissed Japanese concerns about its defence spending as “ridiculous” on Thursday after Tokyo commissioned its biggest-ever helicopter carrier.

Both sides are boosting their military budgets as they grow increasingly wary of each other’s ambitions in the Asia-Pacific region, facing off over a maritime territorial dispute and how to interpret Japan’s motivations and actions during World War II.

Japan is uneasy about what it sees as China’s growing assertiveness, including through regular double-digit increases in its defence spending, and on Wednesday commissioned its biggest warship since World War II, the helicopter carrier Izumo.

The 248-metre Japanese-built vessel can carry nine helicopters and is aimed at beefing up Tokyo’s maritime defences in the East China Sea.

In 2012, China commissioned its first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, and has said its plans more.

Tokyo has repeatedly called on Beijing to be more transparent about its military outlays but Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying hit back, saying that despite Japan’s far smaller number of people it spends a hefty amount on defence.

“Japan’s population accounts for only about one-tenth that of China,” Hua told a regular briefing on Thursday.

“But its per capita national defence spending is about five times that of China,” she added.

“Given this, Japan’s criticism of China’s national defence is quite ridiculous.” It was unclear on what figures Hua based her comparison.

Earlier this month China unveiled a military budget of 886.9 billion yuan ($142.9bn) for 2015. With a population of 1.37 billion, that equates to about $104 per person.

Published in Dawn, March 27th, 2015

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