China's top political advisers have gathered to kick-start the country's biggest annual political meeting.<br />The first of the two big sessions -- the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference -- has just gotten underway in Beijing.<br />It will cover many topics, but one of their focal points will be the country's military spending plans.<br />Arirang's Kwon Soa has more. <br />Military spending is sure to be one of the hot topics on the table at this year's two major political meetings in Beijing.<br />Chinese President Xi Jinping's vision for a strong China includes building a stronger army.<br /><br /><br />"An expansion of military power according to a nation's economic growth is inevitable. The same goes for China."<br /><br />China's military spending had been on the decline until 2013, but increased by 12 percent last year to more than 1-hundred-30 billion U.S. dollars,... putting China behind top military spender the United States. <br />China's defense budget is expected to increase again this year, especially given the country's involvement in a territorial dispute with Japan over an island chain in the East China Sea... and Tokyo's announcement earlier this year of its biggest defense budget ever.<br /><br /><br />"National defense modernization is the key to modern warfare. It's like the nerves inside a body."<br /><br />There's global interest in the upcoming announcement, as many countries try to narrow the gap in military spending with China.<br />China's 2015 defense budget is expected to be unveiled on the opening day of the National People's Congress on Thursday.<br />Kwon Soa, Arirang News.
