Increased defense spending justified

China plans to raise its defense budget by 10.7 percent to 720.2 billion yuan ($114.2 billion) in 2013, according to a budget report to be reviewed by the national legislature. And China has the support of most of its people to do so, as an online survey conducted by www.people.com.cn before the budget was unveiled showed. Of the 1 million respondents to the survey, as much as 90 percent said the country's defense spending growth in recent years is reasonable.

The Western media, however, have made it their wont to criticize China's defense budget, which has increased by double digits annually in the past two decades. The West should, instead, see the major reasons driving up China's military spending. More than anything else, the country has raised its defense budget to address the long-term and heightened challenge of security threat. China has a land area of about 9.6 million square kilometers, bordering 14 countries, and a continental coastline of about 18,000 kilometers, which present a huge security challenge.

Besides, the increase in territorial disputes between China and some its neighbors, such as Japan and the Philippines, in recent years and the United States' high-profile "pivot to Asia" strategy, which is designed to contain China, have further complicated the security landscape for the country.