China on Tuesday announced a 7.2% increase in its defence budget, which is already the world's second-highest behind the United States at 1.6 trillion yuan (USD 222 billion), roughly mirroring the rise of the last year.
Tensions with the U.S., Taiwan, Japan and neighbours who share claims to the crucial South China Sea are seen as furthering growth in increasingly high-tech military technologies from stealth fighters to aircraft carriers and a growing arsenal of nuclear weapons.