【日方炒作中国国防支出预算为扩军备武找借口 The Japanese Side Hypes Up China’s Defense Budget to Find Excuses For Military Expansion】日方炒作中国国防支出预算为扩军备武找借口3月18日下午，国防部新闻局副局长、国防部新闻发言人蒋斌大校就近期涉军问题发布消息。

记者：2026年中国国防支出预算公布后，日本内阁官房长官称，中国持续以高水平增加国防支出，在缺乏透明度的情况下，正广泛且迅速增强军力。有外媒评论，中国国防支出预算连续多年保持增长，与地区其他国家之间的军力差距逐步扩大。请问对此有何评论？

Question: After China announced its 2026 defense budget, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary said that China is increasing its defense expenditure with a high growth rate and is developing its military substantially and rapidly without transparency. Some foreign media claimed that China had maintained increases in defense budget for many years in a row, gradually enlarging the gap in military capabilities with other regional countries. What’s your comment on this?

蒋斌：关于2026年中国国防支出预算情况，我们已经发布了具体信息，其规模、结构、用途等公开透明，无可非议。中国国防支出占GDP的比重长期低于1.5%，远低于美国等军事大国，也低于世界平均水平和北约国家军费普遍超过GDP2%的安排。中国国防支出预算的增长体现了一贯的合理、适度、克制的特点，完全是捍卫国家主权、安全和发展利益的需要，是维护世界和平稳定的需要。中国军队越强大，世界和平就越有保障。

Jiang Bin: We have released information regarding the specifics of China’s 2026 defense budget, making public its size, composition, and allocation and leaving no room for doubt. China’s defense spending accounts for less than 1.5% of its GDP. It is significantly lower than that of major military powers like the U.S., and is also below the global average and the NATO benchmark of over 2% of GDP. The increase in China’s defense budget is characterized by a reasonable, moderate, and restrained growth. Such increase is solely meant to meet the needs of safeguarding China’s sovereignty, security, and development interests, and of maintaining world peace and stability. The stronger the Chinese military, the more secure the world would be.（国防部发布）网页链接