Fu Ying, chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National People's Congress, refuted the idea that China’s military budget is too high at this year's Munich Security Conference, on Feb. 18 local time.

John Chipman, director-general and chief executive of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), set the scene for the panel, stating that Asia’s military development and budget have surpassed those of Europe in 2012, and China has the largest military spending in the region.

Fu replied that when people look at Asia, they tend to look at it from a specific perspective. She illustrated her example by noting that all the defense ministers she had met at the conference talked about how to increase NATO members’ defense budgets to 2 percent of their GDPs. When it comes to China, however, Chipman’s keynote address seemed to criticize China for “doing too much.” Fu pointed out that China has kept its defense budget at 1.5 percent of its GDP for many years.

Fu also mentioned that questions about China’s defense budget were often raised in press conference, and Western papers tend to prominently emphasize the potential threat of China. To conclude, Fu said that the increasingly globalized world calls for a more “unified” standard. She hopes that “we can look at each other through the same light because we are not enemies.”

“I also agree that there should be very good analysis of defense development and good explanations about why we are doing so...But as a Chinese, I share the feeling of many Chinese that we are proud we can finally defend ourselves. This country has suffered so much in the past, and it needs to be able to stand on its own feet. China in peace is an important part of the peace and safety of the world,” Fu said.

On the topic of peace in the Asia-Pacific region, Fu invoked the example of the peaceful development in Asia after World War II, making it clear that the key to this issue is choosing a more inclusive path--a choice that has always been championed by Chinese President Xi Jinping.