Beijing has increased its defence expenditure by 6.6% for the coming year, even while many other nations are slashing budgets to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic that China unleashed on the world.
Worryingly, Chairman Xi Jinping said the upcoming budget of CNY1.27 trillion ($179 billion) was necessary ‘to step up preparations for armed combat’.
This amount is some CNY78 billion more than last year’s CNY1.19 trillion defence budget. To put this in perspective, the actual increment of this year’s increase is almost identical to the complete defence budget of Taiwan for 2020.
Xi also praised the military for effectively dealing
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The initial document focused more on creating the right partnerships and inspiring investment in defence than on any details of how future UK Armed Forces would be armed.
The first stage of developing a new UK Defence Industrial Strategy has highlighted failings in current structures with solutions expected to be proposed in next year’s full strategy.
Romania joined NATO more than two decades ago and the country is vital to the alliance’s geographic reach and its ability to supply Ukraine with weapons.
Although Trump’s geopolitics policy for Europe remains unclear, defence analysts from the US and Europe predict how his incoming administration would attempt to handle critical issues on the continent.
The UK budget announced in Parliament on 30 October was the first by a Labour government in 14 years which has also launched a review into defence procurement programmes.
The Australian government has placed a focus on Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance (GWEO) which has included the purchase of additional long-range rocket systems and investments in local production of missiles.
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