A U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) report published Tuesday says that Beijing’s primary goals for the Korean Peninsula include stability and denuclearization, but China’s military could intervene to help “preserve a North Korean buffer state” in a contingency.

In its annual report to Congress on Chinese military and security developments, the DoD said that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducts military exercises to prepare for such a contingency, including training for air, land, sea and chemical defense.

The China Military Power Report said Beijing’s leadership could order the PLA’s Northern Theater Command, which oversees matters related to the Korean Peninsula,