TAIPEI, Taiwan, March 5, (AP): China said Wednesday it will increase its defense budget 7.2% this year, as it continues its campaign to build a larger, more modern military to assert its territorial claims and challenge the US defense lead in Asia. China’s military spending remains the second largest behind the US and it already has the world’s largest navy.

The budget, which adds up to about $245 billion, was announced at the National People’s Congress, the annual meeting of China’s legislature. The Pentagon and many experts say China's total spending on defense may be 40% higher or more because of items included under other budgets. The boost is the same percentage as last year, far below the double-digit percentage increases of previous years and reflecting an overall slowdown in the economy.

The nation's leaders have set a target of around 5% growth for this year. Tensions with the US, Taiwan, Japan and neighbors who have overlapping claims to the crucial South China Sea are seen as driving spending on increasingly high-tech military technologies. Those include stealth fighters, the country's three - soon to be four - aircraft carriers, and a broad expansion of its nuclear arsenal.

China generally ascribes the budget increases to exercises and maintenance and improving the lives of its 2 million service people. The People’s Liberation Army - the military branch of the ruling Communist Party- has build bases on artificial islands in the South China Sea but its main objective is asserting Chinese control over Taiwan, a self-governing democracy Beijing claims as its own territory that has close ties to the US.

China sent a relatively small contingent of just five planes and seven into territory near Taiwan on Wednesday, just days after sending dozens of aircraft. Such missions are intended to demoralize and wear down Taiwan's defenses, which have been bolstered by upgraded U.S. F-16s, tanks and missiles, along with domestically developed armaments.

In his comments at the Congress, Premier Li Qiang told the nearly 3,000 party loyalists that China still preferred a peaceful solution to the Taiwan issue, but "resolutely opposes” those pushing for Taiwan's formal independence and their foreign supporters. "We will firmly advance the cause of China’s reunification and work with our fellow Chinese in Taiwan to realize the glorious cause of the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation," Li said.