Chinese President Xi Jinping used the 70th anniversary of the Korean War, which erupted three years before his birth, to declare the conflict a milestone in China’s march toward national rejuvenation, which he has termed the Chinese Dream.

In a major speech, Xi — who is also head of the Communist Party and commander in chief of the armed forces — asserted that China was not afraid of war and, in fact, he seemed to endorse a preemptive war, one that “must be fought to deter invasion.”