Naval exercises routine, not warning to Japan

Editor's Note:

The Chinese navy is conducting military exercises in the waters near the East China Sea. Against a background of growing tensions over the Diaoyu Islands, and recent Japanese attempts to "purchase" the land for the central government, many see China's exercises as a deliberate warning to its neighbor. Is this true? How should China respond to Japanese moves? People's Daily Online (PO) interviewed Qu Xing (Qu), director of the China Institute of International Studies, on these issues.

PO: Some analysts hold that China's military exercises in the East China Sea are a warning to Japan. How do you view this?

Qu: The military exercises are routine ones and they are not aimed at any country. Defense modernization is one of China's fixed policies. One aspect of this is conducting various military exercises. China's foreign policy sets peace and cooperation as its core, and any peace-supporting countries shouldn't be worried about or afraid of China's military exercises. But if another country wants to invade China's territory by force, it will take China's military exercises as a warning.