China's defence budget up 7%, now thrice India's

Increase ignores Trump's sabre-rattling and $54 billion spending request

Surprising China watchers who were expecting a double-digit rise in defence spending for 2017, Beijing announced on Saturday its lowest spending hike in recent years --- an “around 7 per cent” increase over the current allocation of 954 billion Yuan ($147 billion).
 
That will take Chinese defence spending to approximately 1,020 billion Yuan ($157 billion), thrice India’s $52 billion allocation this year.
 
Last year, China’s modest 7.6 per cent defence spending hike was considered an aberration, after years of double-digit rises. China had increased military spending by 10.1 per cent in 2015, 12.2 per cent in 2014 and