China on Monday said it will enhance the capability of its armed forces to win “local wars”. China will enhance the capability of its armed forces to accomplish a wide range of tasks, with the Communist Party of China having absolute control, according to a report by Prime Minister Wen Jiabao.
The “most important” of the tasks “is to win local wars under information-age conditions”, reported Xinhua, citing the report. The report, which will be delivered at the opening meeting of the fifth session of the National People’s Congress, China’s Parliament, says the government will ensure that the armed forces resolutely accomplish the tasks of combating terrorism, maintaining stability, handling emergencies and relieving disasters, Xinhua reported.
The report comes a day after an official said that China’s defence budget will grow by 11.2 per cent to 670 billion yuan (about $106 billion) in 2012, as compared to the previous year. This year’s draft defence budget is 67.6 billion yuan more than that of 2011, said Li Zhaoxing, spokesman for the national legislature.
“The government follows the principle of coordinating defence development with economic development. It sets the country’s defence spending according to the requirement of national defence and the level of economic development,” Xinhua quoted Mr Li as saying Sunday.