I’m trying my best to not see it from the “everything China does globally is a threat” perspective but what are other realistic possibilities here? Why else tie such a mission to the PLA? This doesn’t sound like something limited to development interests within China proper but instead those interests outside of China that directly impact China’s overall development goals.

Until I hear a better alternative I’m going to assume this is the biggest expansion of the PLA’s global mission since at least 2015 when it introduced “open seas protection” to the navy in the Defense White Paper.