It's always hard to tell what the Chinese government is planning, but what we do know is it's ordered a rapid expansion of the country's military, and it's testing it.
That concerns no-one more than the people of Taiwan, who are increasingly worried Beijing could be preparing to invade the island.
Today, the ABC's Taiwan-based East Asia correspondent, Bill Birtles, on what the world's largest military has been up to, and what it could mean.
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Bill Birtles, ABC East Asia correspondent, Taipei