CHINA-COMMENTS ON DEFENCE ISSUES AT NPC/CPPCC SESSIONS
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Maj. Gen. Chen Zhou, a delegate to the National People’s Congress and researcher at the Academy of Military Sciences, commented on China's defence budget in an interview to Xinhua on March 4, 2015. He said: “How much are the needs for national security and how much will, our defence spending be? Wherever our national interests extend, that is where our defence spending will follow. This is the principle that investment in national defence spending must follow. Strong material support is indispensable in achieving the Communist Party’s goal of having a strong army in the new situation.” Separately Rear Admiral Yin Zhou, a member of the CPPCC’s National Committee, observed (March 02) that China must continue to develop aircraft carriers to maintain the security of its Indian Ocean routes. Pointing out that Japan had two carriers and India will soon have three or four, he argued that in his view China required at least six aircraft carriers to meet its strategic needs.
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi, responding to reports about China reclaiming and buildng reefs and islands, he said on March 8, 2015, that “We are merely building facilities in our own yard” which are “lawful” and “justified” and poses no threat to other nations.
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