BEIJING: Chinese Premier Li Qiang said on Wednesday China would “firmly advance” the push for reunification with Taiwan while opposing external interference, and strive to work with regular Taiwanese to realise the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

“We will firmly advance the cause of China’s reunification and work with our fellow Chinese in Taiwan to realise the glorious cause of the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation,” Li wrote in his annual work report to China’s parliament.

Beijing hikes its defence spending by 7.2pc; Taipei to buy more weapons from Washington

China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, despite the objection of the government in Taipei, and has ramped up its military pressure against the island in recent years, including holding several rounds of major war games.

China’s defence spending will rise by 7.2 per cent in 2025, the same as last year, Beijing said on Wednesday, as its armed forces undergo rapid modernisation and eye deepening strategic competition with the United States. The country’s expenditure on its armed forces has been on the rise for decades, broadly in line with economic growth.

China has the world’s second-largest military budget, but lags well behind the United States, its primary strategic rival. Despite this, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) surpasses the US military by number of personnel. Beijing’s 1.78-trillion-yuan ($245.7-billion) defence budget for this year is still less than a third of Washington’s.

China’s military spending last year made up 1.6pc of its GDP, far less than the United States or Russia, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. But its defence expansion is viewed with suspicion by Washington, as well as other powers in the region including Japan, with which Beijing has a territorial dispute over islands in the East China Sea.

Taiwan, on the other hand, which China claims as its own territory, has also increased its defence budget in order to strengthen its security ties with the US and buy more weapons from the United States.

Published in Dawn, March 6th, 2025