In a white paper on national defense released by the State Council, the paper said that “China’s security situation has improved steadily,” but that “being in a stage of economic and social transition, China is encountering many new circumstances and new issues in maintaining social stability.”
According to the nytimes, the paper portrayed China as a power that would use military force only defensively and sees territorial integrity as the top defense priority.
Interestingly, the paper said that China wanted to find a way to counterbalance the American military presence in Asia because it believed that America had a history of intervening.