Guangming Daily carried an article that China News Service had originally published on the PLA’s recent intensive military exercises. The article reported that, in September, the PLA conducted no less than six military exercises, including one in the South China Sea. It indicated that some military experts view the exercises as a move to strengthen China’s military power while demonstrating that China is not threatened by any external military power. Even though the article mentioned that the exercises were planned at the beginning of the year, it also quoted a statement by an anonymous foreign media saying that “when the U.S. military conducts military exercises, it takes China as its opponent. Now China is using its military exercises in the South China Sea as a response to demonstrate that China is not afraid of the US and can fight against it.”
Source: Guangming Daily, September 28, 2014
http://mil.gmw.cn/2014-09/28/content_13397655.htm