The following editorial appeared in the Yomiuri Shimbun of Tokyo, Japan.

It can be said to be clear that Chinese President Xi Jinping is poised to further strengthen the foundations of his administration based on a buildup of the country’s military power.

China conducted a large-scale military parade at a combat-training base in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region just ahead of the 90th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Liberation Army on Aug. 1. The parade was held with no foreign leaders in attendance, and also omitted such ceremonial elements as the performance of a musical band. It was an unusual style of parade, with actual combat exercises being its main feature.

China’s latest J-20 stealth fighters, DF-31AG intercontinental ballistic missiles, which can reach the continental United States, and other weapons made their appearance in a parade, showing off the modernization of the country’s military equipment.

Dressed in combat fatigues as he inspected the troops, Xi said emphatically, “We need to build a world-class” military. China is unmistakably strengthening its confrontational stance toward the United States, which Beijing unilaterally considers to be a threat because it has the world’s most powerful military.

With the party congress slated for this autumn, at which Xi’s second-term administration will be inaugurated, it seems that the parade was aimed at displaying Xi’s command of the military and thus enhancing his influence within the party.

Under the Xi administration, China’s military power has been markedly reinforced. The country’s first domestically built aircraft carrier took to the water this spring, and China plans to increase the number of aircraft carriers in its possession. In Djibouti in northeast Africa, the Chinese military’s first overseas base has started operations.

In the East China Sea, Chinese government vessels have repeatedly entered Japanese territorial waters. On man-made islands in the South China Sea, China is steadily making progress in creating military footholds by building runways, radar facilities and the like.

In his speech on Tuesday, Xi said, “China has always been a builder of world peace and an upholder of international order.” In the present state of affairs, in which China ignores concerns among neighboring countries, including Japan, and charges ahead with its doctrine of military buildup, China can never win the understanding of other countries.