BEIJING, March 30 -- China firmly oppose the increase of military budgets under the pretext of "China's military threat" by relevant countries, said Senior Colonel Tan Kefei, spokesperson for China's Ministry of National Defense, at the regular press conference on Thursday.
Tan made the remarks when asked by the media to comment on defense budget increases announced by the United States and Britain. It is reported that the US side announced a defense budget request of up to 886 billion US dollars for the fiscal year 2024 and its Secretary of Defense stated that this budget sought to meet the "pacing challenge" from China. Meanwhile, Britain also planned to provide defense with five billion pounds of additional funding over the next two years in response to so-called challenges posed by China and Russia.
"China has always been a builder of world peace, a contributor to global development, and a defender of international order", said Tan, noting that China is an epoch-making opportunity for all countries, not a challenge.
He made it clear that for a long time, it was the US that had always held the highest defense budget among all countries, and also the US that had waged war and created turbulence around the world. "The United States is the greatest threat to world peace, security and stability indeed", Tan stressed.
The spokesperson also urged the British side to take a right attitude, uphold the correct understanding of China, and stop exaggerating and hyping up the so-called challenges posed by China.