Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China and chairman of the Central Military Commission, called on his country’s armed forces to prepare for war.

He issued the instruction at the seminar on the reform of national defense and the armed forces, which was held in Beijing. His message was relayed by national television.

Xi Jinping’s speech comes at a time when the United States and its allies deny that Taiwan is a Chinese province (which Washington has recognized until now) and when his ally, President Vladimir Putin, enacted partial mobilization in Russia.