BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s President Xi Jinping has called for the building of strong border, sea and air defences to protect the country’s territorial sovereignty and maritime interests, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday.
Border, sea and air defence is an important symbol of China’s sovereignty, and a key guarantee for the country’s development, Xinhua cited Xi as saying on Tuesday at a so-called collective study session of the Communist Party’s politburo.
Such collective study sessions, often conducted a month or two apart, offer clues to the current thinking and priorities of China’s top political leadership.
A few days after the July 2023 study session on strengthening military governance, Xi appointed a new head of the armed force overseeing China’s conventional and nuclear missiles. The appointment by Xi, also the military’s commander-in-chief, came on the eve of the 96th anniversary of the People’s Liberation Army’s founding on Aug. 1.
The June 2024 study session focused on party governance and corruption. In mid-July, the party removed its former defence minister, Li Shangfu, and former PLA Rocket Force commander Li Yuchao, from the party for corruption.
“We must coordinate the promotion of border, sea and air defence construction and the economic and social development of border and coastal areas,” Xinhua cited Xi as saying at Tuesday’s study session, ahead of the 97th PLA anniversary.
China must also be more empowered technologically, and must build “new means and conditions” as it strengthens its border, sea and air defences, he said.
The Chinese government increased its 2024 defence budget by 7.2%, in line with the rate in last year’s budget and again well above the government’s annual economic growth forecast.
Tensions have risen in recent years over Taiwan, the democratically ruled island that China claims as part of its territory, and elsewhere in East Asia, particularly in the South China Sea where Beijing and Manila have increasingly clashed over competing maritime claims.
The United States pledged funding of $500 million on Tuesday for the Philippines’ military and coast guard in a show of support for Manila as it faces Chinese actions in the South China Sea.
(Reporting by Ryan Woo; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
