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By Micah McCartney
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China has balked at the prospect of joining the U.S. and Russia in reducing their defense budgets, following remarks by Vladimir Putin.
Newsweek reached out to the Russian foreign ministry and White House with emailed requests for comment.
Why It Matters
President Donald Trump recently called for talks with China and Russia, the second- and third-largest defense spenders, respectively, on slashing their budgets by as much as half and resuming denuclearization negotiations.
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U.S. and Russian officials are engaged in talks to normalize ties and bring the war in Ukraine, now in its fourth year, to a close. Trump's proposal to cut spending came as he appeared to embrace Kremlin talking points, blaming Ukraine for the February 2022 invasion in a sharp break from U.S. policy.
What To Know
On Monday, Putin welcomed the idea, suggesting in a televised interview that Russia's Chinese ally "would join if it wanted."
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian appeared to dismiss this proposition, telling reporters Tuesday that Bejing limits its spending to the level needed to protect its security, sovereignty, peaceful development, and "the need to maintain world peace."
China "never engages in any arms race with any country. It has worked for world peace through concrete actions and brought stability and certainty to the world," he added.
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He noted that global defense spending has risen in recent years, driven by heightened tensions in various regions, and said "major countries" have a responsibility to work toward peace.
Lin's remarks follow the ministry's statement earlier this month that as the top military spender, the U.S. should "set an example" and that Washington and Moscow—which together account for over 90 percent of the world's nuclear weapons—should reduce their own stockpiles before other nuclear-armed states follow suit.
Though officially neutral, China has helped the Kremlin sustain its invasion as a top purchaser of Russian gas and oil and by supplying dual civilian-military use goods, the U.S. and Europe have said.
Total global military spending hit $2.46 trillion last year, wrote the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), a London-based think tank, in a February 12 report.
China announced a $236 billion defense budget for 2024, a 7.2 percent increase. Some analysts believe unreported expenditures push the actual figure much higher, with the American Enterprise Institute estimating it at $711 billion, not far behind the U.S.' $850 billion.
China has in recent decades rapidly modernized its People's Liberation Army in line with Xi Jinping's goal of turning it into a world-class military by 2049, the 100th anniversary of Communist Party rule. This buildup has led the Pentagon to label Beijing the U.S.' "pacing challenge."
At the same time, China's growing military assertiveness in the region has spurred neighbors Japan, India, and Beijing-claimed Taiwan to ramp up their own defense spending.
What People Are Saying
The Institute for Strategic Studies said: "Asian defense budgets continued to grow at a moderate pace in 2024, consistent with their trajectory over the last decade. This continuity comes as strategic drivers—such as China's military modernization and increasing assertiveness, and North Korea's advancing nuclear weapons program—galvanize threat perceptions in the region. This has resulted in significant spending increases in the region's larger, more mature economies, such as Japan."
What's Next?
Trump has suggested that discussions on defense spending and nuclear arms reduction could take place "once things settle down."
He has also hinted at a face-to-face meeting with Russian Putin in the near future, following initial negotiations between U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Notably, neither Ukraine nor the European Union has been invited to these talks. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has ruled out accepting any peace deal reached without the war-torn country's involvement.
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