China's President Hu Jintao is seldom seen wearing military green. So when he does, the armed forces pay attention. Mr Hu appeared in military attire on December 27th declared that China had to build a powerful navy and "make sound preparations for military struggles". He said that China was a maritime power and expressed China's determination to build a blue-water navy able to reach far beyond its shores.
A Pentagon report last year said China could maintain only a "symbolic" naval presence beyond its coast, but was interested in extending its presence to the Malacca Strait and the Indian Ocean.
Mr Hu appears far more confident now than he did two years ago that Taiwan's President Chen Shui-bian lacks the political strength and daring necessary to sever the island's constitutional links with the mainland.
So why is Mr Hu, who has been commander-in-chief since 2004, so keen on a bigger navy? Prestige could well be part of it. Chinese state-run television aired (twice, in November and December) an unusual documentary series called "The Rise of Great Nations". It described how Japan and various Western countries including America and Britain became strong. Naval power was a vital ingredient. (Source: The Economist, Jan 4, 2007).