The Chinese military has reportedly put political pressure on the Chinese government to toughen up its response to the South Korea-U.S. joint naval drills.

Quoting Chinese diplomats, Hong Kong's South China Morning Post said Friday that political pressure from the Chinese military community has forced the Chinese government to change the text of its official statements several times over the past two months to harden its tone regarding the joint naval drill near its territorial waters.

A Chinese diplomatic source reportedly told the newspaper that Chinese leaders with civilian backgrounds could have received enormous pressure from the Chinese People's Liberation Army in their decision-making process.