China will likely announce another large rise in defense spending next month, as the ruling Communist Party seeks to assuage the military's unhappiness at sweeping reforms and as worries over the South China Sea and Taiwan weigh on Beijing.
Military spending last year was budgeted to jump by 10.1 percent, outpacing slowing, single-digit GDP growth, and another double-digit rise looks set to be announced at the annual meeting of China's largely rubber-stamp parliament in March.
One source with ties to senior officers said a 30 percent increase in spending this year had been mooted in military circles, though the actual rise was unlikely to be that dramatic.