Xi's changes took observers by surprise

On the morning of Sept 3, 2015, I realized that President Xi Jinping was serious about overhauling the People's Liberation Army. Before inspecting a grand parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, Xi, who is also chairman of the Central Military Commission, China's top defense body, announced that troop numbers would be reduced by 300,000 in the coming years.

I am a military enthusiast. I started following defense affairs in primary school, and over the years, I have covered Chinese military news and have become acquainted with many PLA officers, experts and other defense reporters. I hate to admit that despite all of this, I had not heard a single word about the troop cuts before the announcement was made. When I asked other defense reporters about the move, they all gave the same answer: "I didn't know about it."

We were surprised by the unprecedented level of secrecy surrounding the move, and I began to speculate that Xi was about to do something big - after all, pushing through a reduction of hundreds of thousands of officers and soldiers would not be an easy task.