China Raises Defense Budget by 7.2 Percent as It Pushes for Global Heft and Regional Tensions Continue

China's DF-41 nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles are seen during a military parade at Tiananmen Square in Beijing on October 1, 2019, to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. GREG BAKER/AFP via Getty Images

BEIJING—China on Tuesday announced a 7.2 percent increase in its defense budget, which is already the world’s second-highest behind the United States at 1.6 trillion yuan ($222 billion), roughly mirroring last year’s rise.

Tensions with the U.S., Taiwan, Japan, and neighbors with competing claims to the crucial South China Sea are seen as furthering growth in high-tech military technologies from stealth fighters to aircraft carriers and a growing arsenal of nuclear weapons.