Cambodian scholars support China's 2015 defense budget

PHNOM PENH -- Cambodian experts have voiced their support for China's defense budget for 2015, saying it will build a solid national defense.

China on Thursday sets its 2015 defense budget at 886.9 billion yuan (about $144.2 billion), a 10.1 percent rise year- on-year and its lowest increase in five years.

"The rise is reasonable and in line with China's defense needs. There is nothing strange about this," Phay Siphan, spokesman for the Cambodia's Council of Ministers, told Xinhua on Friday.

"I commend China for enhancing its defense sector in order to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity and to ensure peace, security and development."

Phay Siphan believes that China's solid defense sector poses no threat to the region.

"Through its history until the present time, I have never seen China use its armed forces to conquer other countries," he said. " China's foreign policy has adhered to a path of peaceful development, so China's strong defense sector will benefit Asia."

Chheang Vannarith, a senior researcher at the Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace, said on Saturday that China's defense budget for 2015 is reasonable, due to the size of its economy and its national security requirements.

He agreed that China's increasing military capability would pose no threat to the region.

"China has shown its commitment to pursuing a doctrine of peaceful development without threatening other countries," he said. "Without regional peace and stability, China cannot sustain its economic growth and provide opportunities to its huge population."