Enhancing military transparency
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China issued its seventh white paper on National Defense [full text] on Thursday. It did not include information on China's new aircraft carrier, as had been widely anticipated, but there was plenty of other detailed information to enhance military transparency and refute recent misunderstandings, distortions and worries about China's national defense strategy.
A common worry last year was whether China had changed its defensive military posture and was becoming more assertive as its comprehensive power increased. The new white paper gives a clear answer: China pursues a national defense policy that is defensive in nature. This approach is based on China's analysis and judgment of the international security situation. The white paper concludes that the world remains peaceful and stable on the whole, though international military competition has intensified and the security situation in the Asia-Pacific is becoming more complex. China is still in a period of important strategic development opportunities, and its overall security environment remains favorable. And it is the security environment that determines China's national defense policy. Neglecting China's assessment of the overall international security situation will lead to misunderstanding the nature of China's national defense policy.
As for the military issues concerning Taiwan, the new defense white paper shows a mild approach with constructive suggestions such as conducting consultation and dialogue to establish a military mutual trust mechanism at the proper time. The growth of cross-Straits relations in trade, culture and politics has greatly decreased the possibility of military conflict. So excuses used by some nations for their arms sale to Taiwan are growing thinner. These arms sale are conducted with an eye on their own interests rather than for peace and stability. Cross-Straits relations would not be a military issue if it was not for foreign military interference.
Increases in China's military expenditure are always used as evidence to support the so called "China Threat Theory". To make military spending more transparent, the white paper sets out the three main segments of expenditure and the percentage each occupies out of the total. China's defense spending is comparatively low as a percentage of GDP. And per capita defense spending is very low compared to many other countries. Moreover, China's military forces play active roles in tasks such as maintaining social stability, construction, domestic and overseas disaster relief, and UN peacekeeping, in addition to their mission of defending the nation. These missions account for a substantial proportion of military expenditure.
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