Chinese President Xi Jinping has created some flutter by calling on the PLA troops to prepare for war. As reported by CNN, Xi has asked the People's Liberation Army to put all their minds and energy on preparing for war.

Xi made the statements during his Wednesday visit to a military base in the southern province of Guangdong.

Reports say that, following Xi's utterances, the Trump administration has appointed a senior official as its special coordinator for Tibetan issues.

Xi's utterances have to be seen in the context of surging US-China tensions this year. They have disagreements over Taiwan, which has become a nerve-center of tensions. Divisions between Washington and Beijing have also intensified over COVID-19.