TOKYO — Chinese President Xi Jinping has continued to up the ante in the South China Sea dispute in a bid to overhaul a military whose dominant army has vehemently resisted change.

“To put it simply, Xi Jinping’s major reforms of the People’s Liberation Army are a form of ‘army bashing,'” said an old cadre of the Chinese Communist Party. “They are closely related to his hard-line stance on the South China Sea issue.”

The veteran official made the remarks when details of Xi’s bold military reshuffle plan emerged. The military shakeup took effect earlier this year. As things turned out, the old cadre was right on the mark.

By “army bashing,” the official meant stripping the army of its long-standing vested interests and preventing China’s traditional seven military regions from becoming virtually independent kingdoms.

http://asia.nikkei.com/Politics-Economy/Policy-Politics/Why-Xi-Jinping-is-fanning-the-South-China-Sea-crisis?page=1