Sputnik – 04.03.2023
BEIJING – China is increasing its defense budget to meet complex security challenges and fulfill the country’s obligations, Wang Chao, a spokesman for the first session of the 14th National People’s Congress, said on Saturday.
“The increase in defense spending is driven both by the need to respond to complex security challenges and the need to fulfill the obligations of a large country,” Wang told reporters.
The spokesman added that the scale of the military spending was also determined by the basic needs of defense construction and the level of development of the national economy.
At the same time, Wang refused to specify how much China would increase its defense spending in 2023, though adding that all the details would be set in the country’s draft budget expected to be published on Sunday.
The spokesman noted that the share of China’s defense budget as s percentage of the country’s GDP had remained largely stable and below global average figures for many years.
“The growth rate is relatively moderate and reasonable,” Wang added.
He also said that the modernization of China’s armed forces would not pose a threat to any country “but on the contrary, it will become a positive force for maintaining stability and peace in the region and around the world.”
China steadily increases its defense budget every year, although Beijing adheres to the defensive nature of its military doctrine and does not participate in wars or military conflicts. In 2022, China planned to raise its military budget by 7.1% year-on-year to 1.45 trillion yuan ($209.9 billion).
RT | March 4, 2023
A US Air Force B-1B bomber flies in formation with South Korea’s Air Force KF-16 during a joint air drill in South Korea, March 3, 2023 © South Korea Defense Ministry via AP
The US and South Korean militaries have announced their largest joint exercises in at least five years and their longest on record, defying threats from North Korea that such drills can be considered a “declaration of war” and will lead to “unprecedentedly persistent and strong counteractions.”
The exercises, including amphibious landings, will run from March 13 to March 23 and will be the largest-scale joint drills held by the two countries since then-President Donald Trump throttled back such training amid peace talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
The concurrent drills, called Freedom Shield and Warrior Shield, are designed to strengthen the allies’ response capabilities amid a changing security environment, North Korean “aggression” and “lessons learned from recent wars and conflicts,” US Forces Korea spokesman Colonel Isaac Taylor told reporters on Friday in Seoul.
For good measure, the US made a show of force on Friday, deploying a B-1B stealth bomber in a joint air drill with Korean aircraft. The aim of the drill was to demonstrate Washington’s “strong and credible extended deterrence against North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats,” Seoul’s defense ministry said.
Pyongyang has called such joint exercises dress rehearsals for invasion. North Korean officials said last month that this year’s upcoming joint drills are “preparations for an aggressive war,” adding that the peninsula will “again be plunged into the grave vortex of escalating tension.”
The two Koreas have technically been at war for more than seven decades, as their 1950-1953 conflict ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty. Tensions in the region have escalated in the past year, with North Korea conducting a record number of missile tests.
If North Korea reacts to this month’s drills with “provocative acts,” such as a nuclear weapon test, the US and South Korea will respond “sternly, based on the overwhelming capabilities of the alliance,” said Colonel Lee Sung-jun, spokesman for the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The Highwire with Del Bigtree | March 2, 2023
Yet another narrative reversal sees parts of the U.S. Government now saying COVID came from a Chinese lab. The HighWire reveals who kept this information from the American public from the beginning and why the same players are back at it with bird flu.
The Highwire with Del Bigtree | March 2, 2023
The great lies of COVID-19 pushed on the world by global health agencies and mainstream media are unraveling before our eyes. Del walks through the ‘10 Myths Told By Covid Experts’ published by Johns Hopkins Surgeon, Marty Makary, MD, pinpointing when and where The HighWire was brave enough to report on debunking each one, going all the way back to January of 2020.
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Aletho News Archives – Video-Images
RT | February 13, 2019
The US staked a claim on half the world, as Senate Armed Services Committee chair Jim Inhofe said Washington might have to intervene in Venezuela if Russia dares set up a military base not just there, but “in our hemisphere.”
“I think that it could happen,” Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) told a group of reporters on Tuesday. “You’ve got a guy down there that is killing everybody. You could have him put together a base that Russia would have on our hemisphere. And if those things happen, it may be to the point where we’ll have to intervene with troops and respond.”
Should Russia dare encroach on the US’ neck of the woods, Inhofe said: “we have to take whatever action necessary to stop them from doing that.” … continue
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