December 29, 2023

According to a global poll conducted by CGTN, some 93 percent of the respondents were deeply concerned, believing that the irrational increase in U.S. and Japanese military spending will destabilize regional peace and trigger a new round of arms race in East Asia and even in the world. The military budgets of the United States and Japan for 2024 have both reached historic highs, adding more unease to this tension. 

In 2023, global military spending continued to grow. According to a report released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute in Sweden, global military spending reached $2.2 trillion in 2022, marking the eighth consecutive year of growth and setting a new high since the end of the Cold War. In this regard, 89.3 percent of global respondents were deeply concerned that the continued growth of global military spending will not only threaten peace, but will further exacerbate the global security dilemma. 

Another 87.2 percent of the respondents were deeply worried about the booming global arms trade market, believing that it will push up the risk of regional conflicts and induce bloc confrontations or even global conflicts. One netizen lamented in his message, "We have returned to the era of the Cold War, Iron Curtain, and arms race."

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