China has maintained an average military spending rise of some 10 percent over the past three years, which a PLA navy rear admiral defended as "legitimate and reasonable."

Rear Admiral Yin Zhuo, a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), said on Sunday, March 2, in Beijing that China's defense budget thus far has remained under that of other countries, in terms of its share in the country's GDP.

Ying, a navy IT expert, explained how this share stands at 1.4 to 1.6 percent during the country's Twelfth Five-Year Plan (2011-15), though "2 to 5 percent would in more rational proportion for a developing major power such as China."

Ying added China had continued to reduce its defense budget over the past 20 years before raising it "in the fashion of recovery" from 2000 onwards. The extra spending was primarily used to raise the servicemen's living standard, including barrack renovations, continued the rear admiral.

In 2013, China's military spending stood at 720 billion yuan (US$118.32 billion) -- the second largest in the world after the United States -- incurring the criticism, as well as the "China threat theory," from other countries.

Yet the naval expert claimed U.S. military spending was "4.2 to 4.8 percent, sometimes as much as 5.2 percent, of its GDP, which is twice that of China."

"That puts its defense budget at least six times as much as ours. Then based on what does the United States continue to criticize us?"

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