Xi Jinping is preparing China for war

Foreign Affairs reported on the situation.

The outlet notes that Xi's government also announced a 7.2% increase in China's defense budget, which has doubled over the past decade, as well as plans to make the country less dependent on foreign grain imports. Beijing has also unveiled new laws on military preparedness, new bomb shelters in cities across the Taiwan Strait, and new National Defense Mobilization offices across the country. Although the Chinese leader does not speak openly about war, there is reason to believe that Beijing is preparing for something, the media reports.

In December, Beijing promulgated a new law that will allow the People's Liberation Army of China to more easily activate its reserve forces and institutionalize a system for replenishing combat units in the event of war. Such measures, analysts say, indicate that Xi Jinping may have learned lessons from Russian President Putin's failures in Ukraine.

The publication also notes that the Chinese government has passed a law that can be used to prosecute people who oppose the takeover of Taiwan. The army could also use it to assert its jurisdiction over a potentially occupied territory such as Taiwan.

China is also discussing a plan to create a blacklist of Taiwanese activists and political leaders who support independence.

• At the end of February, the media reported that the US would quadruple its military presence in Taiwan to strengthen the island's military training program amid the growing threat from China.