The overwhelming emergence of Donald Trump has stirred global tensions, with defense now at the center of the global geopolitical stage. While the European Union plans to mobilize up to 800 billion euros for a historic European rearmament plan after Washington abruptly suspended military aid to Kiev, and NATO continues to pressure Alliance countries to increase military spending, China, which boasts the world's largest armed forces, has announced a 7.2% increase in defense spending for this year.
At present, Beijing remains the world's second-largest military spender. The People's Liberation Army (PLA), although it cannot boast the massive permanent deployment of U.S. forces worldwide, has been flexing its muscles, intensifying patrols around Taiwan, the autonomous island that China has pledged to bring under its control by force if necessary, and conducting live-fire military exercises in the more distant waters of the Pacific.
Since Xi became president and commander-in-chief of the armed forces, launching a significant reform that accelerated weapons production and soldier recruitment, China's defense budget has skyrocketed from 720 billion yuan in 2013, which is equivalent to 93 billion euros. Xi often emphasizes that the Chinese military must achieve "total modernization" by 2035, bolstering a defense industrial base that develops weapon systems aimed at deterring the United States.
President Xi Jinping of China attends the opening session of the National People's Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Pedro Pardo AFP
In February, Trump surprised by stating that this year he would meet with his Chinese counterpart and Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss cutting the military budgets of the U.S., China, and Russia in half. The Republican said he would try to convince them to reduce their defense spending and commit to denuclearization. The idea was well received, at least publicly, in Moscow. Not so much in Beijing. The Chinese government, dismissing Trump's proposal, said the U.S. should set an example first and reminded that Washington and Moscow together account for over 90% of the world's nuclear weapons.
From the U.S., many military analysts often highlight that one of the weaknesses of the Chinese military is its lack of combat experience and that it is still catching up with many high-tech weapons. But they also agree that the U.S. advantage over China in terms of military strength is diminishing. In the air, China is now the only country, along with the U.S., to have two types of stealth fighters.
"The Chinese air force has made significant progress in modernizing its aircraft, including improved combat aircraft and bombers, and is rapidly approaching U.S. standards in unmanned aerial systems [drones]," noted a Pentagon report from the end of last year.
China, which already has the world's largest navy (370 warships, compared to the U.S.'s 297), is also expanding its nuclear arsenal. International research on nuclear weapons, such as that conducted by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), indicates that by 2024, Beijing had 600 nuclear warheads compared to 200 in 2020. Although still far from the over 3,700 operational warheads held by the U.S.
"China's nuclear arsenal is not only growing in terms of the number of deployed warheads but also in terms of certain diversity and sophistication," the Pentagon report stated. It is expected that by the end of this decade, China will surpass a thousand nuclear warheads, which can be carried by intercontinental ballistic missiles like the one the Chinese military launched into the Pacific last September, marking the first known test of its kind in 44 years.
During the opening of the Chinese legislature on Wednesday, the report read by Prime Minister Li Qiang also included Beijing's promise to "continue improving the political conduct of the military," a reference to the corruption scandals that have rocked the PLA in recent years. The Chinese government launched an anti-corruption campaign that has taken down many senior military officials, starting with the former Defense Minister, Li Shangfu, a 66-year-old veteran general who was officially expelled from the Communist Party last year.