When Xi Jinping named Adm. Dong Jun (pictured above) as China's defense minister last week, it marked the first time a naval officer has been elevated to that position, and analysts say it gives a clear indication of the Chinese leader's priorities – Taiwan tops among them.
Dong's experience, both as head of the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) as well as operational assignments in the Chinese military's Eastern and Southern theater commands, gives him an "unprecedented background" in the defense minister position, according to a report from the China Maritime Studies Institute (CMSI) at the US Naval War College in Rhode Island.
His resumé "reflects serious joint and naval focus under Xi with growing potential applications to disputed sovereignty claims in the East and South China Seas — none more important than Taiwan," CMSI analysts Andrew Erickson and Christopher Sharman wrote in their report.
Carl Schuster, a former director of operations at the US Pacific Command's Joint Intelligence Center, said Dong "has international, joint and extensive naval experience in the two theaters that have been in the forefront of leader Xi Jinping's most aggressive assertions of Chinese territorial claims."
Xi, who has made taking control of Taiwan a cornerstone of his broader goal to "rejuvenate" China to a place of power and stature globally, said last month that the "reunification" of Taiwan with China is "inevitable."
China's Communist Party claims Taiwan as its own territory, despite never having controlled it. Chinese officials say they aim for peaceful "reunification" but have not ruled out using force to take control of the island.
China's military has ramped up diplomatic, economic and military pressure on Taiwan under Xi.
Chinese jets now frequently cross into Taiwan's air defense identification zone as well as over the unofficial, but until recently largely adhered to, "median line" that runs down the Taiwan Strait.
Crossings of the median line by Chinese warships have also become much more frequent.
Beijing is engaged in other sovereignty disputes, too, with Japan over the Senkuku Islands – which China calls the Diaoyus – in the East China Sea and with a handful of governments over contested reefs, shoals and islands in the South China Sea, almost all of which Beijing claims as its territory.
Though the defense minister position in China is a largely ceremonial role, serving as the public face of military diplomacy with other countries, Erickson and Sharman said Dong, with his experience, will make "a potent interlocutor with foreign counterparts."
Meanwhile, days before Xi elevated Dong to defense minister, he appointed Adm. Hu Zhongming to replace him as overall commander of the PLA Navy.
Hu, a career submarine officer with operational and command experience in the South China Sea, is considered by analysts to be a sensible choice for the role.
Submarines are one key area where the PLA Navy is widely regarded to be behind its potential adversary the US Navy.
Hu would seem to be the perfect person to make improvements to the PLA's submarine forces, said Alessio Patalano, professor of war and strategy at King's College in London.
"As a submariner with considerable experience in managing risks and improving training, Admiral Hu will make sure that China's most important strategic capability is brought up to the highest standards," Patalano said.
Read more about the new appointments here.
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