A report in the state-run Global Times on May 13, 2016, said that the Tibet Military Command had been placed under direct command of the PLA --- and that its political status had been raised. It quoted a Chinese military analyst as saying: "After the [recent] military reform, most of the provincial military commands are now under the control of the newly established National Defense Mobilization Department of the Central Military Commission, and their priority is to the region's militia reserves and conscription. The Tibet Military Command, on the other hand, is under the leadership of the Chinese ground forces, which suggests that the command may undertake some kind of military combat mission in the future." Song Zongping, a Beijing-based military analyst who was a senior officer in the Second Artillery, explained that the Tibet Military Command bears great responsibility to prepare for possible conflicts between China and India, and currently it is difficult to secure all the military resources they need. He added: "Military action in the Tibet Military Command requires specialist mountain skills and long-range capabilities, which need the deployment of special military resources," and "The promotion of the command's authority level shows the amount of attention China places on the defense of its southwestern borders. The higher the authority level is, the more military resources the command can mobilize."