Senior Colonel Zhang Xiaogang, spokesperson for China’s Ministry of National Defense(MND) lit into Japan at a press conference on Thursday. “It is Japan that truly owes the world a clear explanation: as neo-militarism grows into a greater threat, where is Japan heading for?” he asked. He was responding to reports that the Japanese defense minister once again questioned the transparency of China’s defense budget and claimed that Japan would invest in new operational capabilities including drones and AI in a transparent manner to adapt to the evolving nature of conflicts.
“China’s defense expenditure is open and transparent. As required by the Chinese laws, we release information on China’s total defense budget as well as its scale, composition and usage every year. China is an active participant in the UN military expenditure transparency mechanism and has submitted annual military expenditure reports of the previous fiscal year to the UN since 2008. China’s defense expenditure remains at a reasonable, moderate and restrained level, which accounts for less than 1.5% of our GDP for a long time,” said the spokesperson.
