The highest-ranking American military officer says U.S. officials need to “lower the rhetoric” on China.
Army Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, says that while Washington needs “cold-eyed realism” about the prospect of a potential U.S.-China military clash, America is not on the “brink of war” with China as some officials have warned.
“There’s a lot of rhetoric in China, and a lot of rhetoric elsewhere, to include the United States, that could create the perception that war is right around the corner or we’re on the brink of war with China,” Gen. Milley said in an interview with Defense One.
“It is possible that you could have an incident or some other trigger event that could lead to uncontrolled escalation. So, it’s not impossible. But I don’t think at this point I would put it in the likely category,” the joint chiefs chairman said, according to a summary of the interview published Friday.
“And I think that the rhetoric itself can overheat the environment,” he said.
Gen. Milley’s comments follow a barrage of warnings from lower-tier U.S. military officials in recent months about the threat of a military escalation with China.
In January, an Air Force general warned that the U.S. could be at war with China within two years, pointing to danger stemming from the Chinese Communist Party’s publicly stated ambition to absorb Taiwan and increasing Chinese military activity near the U.S.-backed island democracy.
In an unusual memo to troops, Gen. Mike Minihan, who heads the Air Mobility Command, cited the 2024 presidential elections in Taiwan and the U.S., which he said could leave the U.S. “distracted” and give Chinese President Xi Jinping a window of opportunity to attack Taiwan.
“I hope I am wrong. My gut tells me we will fight in 2025,” Gen. Minihan said in the memo in January.
Weeks later, Rear Adm. Michael Studeman, the Mandarin-speaking commander of the Office of Naval Intelligence, warned that American political leaders and the general population are suffering from “China blindness,” failing to understand the nature of the threat to U.S. security posed by the communist regime in Beijing.
Mr. Xi is promoting a “China dream” that seeks to diminish and ultimately replace the United States as the world’s most powerful state, the admiral warned in a blunt speech on Feb. 15.
“I’m going to be very honest with you: it’s very unsettling to see how much the U.S. is not connecting the dots on our No. 1 challenge, even though the national security and defense strategies call China out,” Adm. Studeman said. “It’s disturbing how ill-informed and naive the average American is on China.”
SEE ALSO: Protecting farmland: America pressed to weed China out of U.S. agriculture acreage
His remarks came after President Biden had ordered American fighter jets to shoot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon that had traversed airspace across the U.S. in early February. The incident ratcheted tensions that have been rising on a range of fronts between Washington and Beijing in recent years, including over the status of Taiwan.
In his remarks to Defense One on Friday, Gen. Milley expressed concern over the potential for a U.S.-China clash, but also appeared eager to tamp down what he described as “emotional” assessments by others.
Instead of how the China threat is discussed today, the joint chief’s chairman said, “I’d prefer to go back to what Teddy Roosevelt said, which is, you know, ‘speak softly, carry a big stick’ sort of thing. So: Have our military really, really strong [and] lower the rhetoric a little bit with the temperature.
“I don’t believe war is inevitable. I don’t think it’s imminent. But I do think that we need to be very, very pragmatic and cautious going forward … and a little bit less, perhaps, emotional, I suppose.
“But also on the China side … I just think, for us, the United States, approach this with some steely-eyed, cold-eyed realism. Get the military up to the level of dominance relevant to China, in all the domains. And if they know that, and they know we have a will to use it, then you’re probably gonna deter them more from the start.”
Gen. Milley also said he doubts China’s chances of “conquering” Taiwan because of the tactical difficulty associated with the sort of amphibious and airborne operation that would be required.
However, he said the U.S. should continue to quicken arms shipments to the self-governing island democracy, asserting Taiwan needs air defense, anti-ship cruise missiles, and anti-ship mines, according to Defense One.
• Bill Gertz and Joseph Clark contributed to this report.
• Guy Taylor can be reached at gtaylor@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.