Chinese international affairs expert Teng Jianqun said in an interview on CCTV7 (China) that was posted to the internet on January 29, 2022 that frequent flyovers of the PLA air force over Taiwan were meant for the PLA to make an “assessment of the various meteorological, hydrological or aerial characteristics of the region, [and] it will provide some guarantee for large-scale combat operations in the future.” 

Teng elaborated that the PLA jets were getting "familiar with the battlefield situation." The show in which Teng was interviewed also cited Taiwanese Internet users who said that the PLA jets operated in a "quasi-state of war," a view which Teng echoed. CCTV7, which belongs to the CCP mouthpiece China Central Television, is the channel dedicated to national defense issues. The interview was posted on the Military Fans World channel on YouTube.

Due to the propagandistic nature of Chinese media (virtually all domestic Chinese media outlets are controlled by the CCP), Chinese broadcasters often quote real or fictional "foreign media sources or Internet users" to make statements that might sound too provocative if stated directly by official government agencies, such as Chinese Ministry of National Defense. This method also gives an impression of objectivity to the CCP mouthpiece outlets.