Admiral Samuel Paparo - appointed by U.S. President Biden to assume command of the U.S. Indo-Pacific theater- warned that despite the extremely high cost of military action against Taiwan, China could act at any time and the U.S. must remain vigilant: "We don't have a vacation from now until they do, and we need to be ready next week, next month and for decades to come."
Former U.S. armed forces general and chairman of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Milley, recently accepted an interview with the British newspaper "Financial Times," talking about U.S.-China relations.
US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley gives a press conference after a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group during a two-day meeting of the alliance's Defence Ministers at the NATO Headquarter in Brussels on October 12, 2022. (Photo by Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD / AFP) (Photo by KENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP via Getty Images)
Milley said Beijing has built a "very strong" military, although it has not yet surpassed the United States in terms of technology, but concerns about China's advantage "are not excessive."
He also said that maintaining a strong military deterrent for the U.S. military is essential to avoid wars with powerful countries such as China and Russia.
Milley formally resigned as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff last September, and on March 1, the Financial Times published the interview with him, in which topics such as U.S.-China relations, Russia and Ukraine, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict were discussed.
"I have read the writings of Mao Zedong and those of Marx and Lenin, but that does not mean I am a communist. What's wrong with knowing more about the country we have to defend?" said Milley during the interview.
Milley appeared to be very interested in the use of technology in the military, and in reference to the impact of artificial intelligence on the military, he believes that AI, combined with robotics, will play a "fundamental and perhaps even decisive role" in future armed conflicts between nations.
As for "whether China is leading in terms of technology or whether such concerns are exaggerated," Milley replied, "At the moment they have not surpassed us. They have created a very strong military, and although they are not yet on par with the United States ... this concern is not exaggerated."
According to Milley, the key to avoiding a war with a power like China or Russia is to maintain a strong military, which is crucial for deterrence.
Milley also raised the issue of Taiwan, arguing that China has "shown strength" on the issue, but has not yet seen mainland China "attack Taiwan," and thus "it is reasonable to conclude that deterrence has worked."
He then speculated that mainland China considers military action against Taiwan costly. "China can be described as a rational actor that chooses not to use military force, but that does not mean the situation will remain that way forever."
Speaking on the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Milley strongly advocated increased assistance to Ukraine. He said that the Russian-Ukrainian conflict has reached a "stalemate" and that U.S. and European support is crucial, and that if it were to fail, Russia would gain a "devastating strategic advantage," which "would be tragic because the Ukrainians would no longer be able to defend themselves successfully."
Commenting on Israel's much-criticized military campaign against the Gaza Strip, Milley said that Israel's response to Hamas was one that "any nation-state" would have given, but that it faced "very difficult military problems" due to the Gaza Strip's dense population and that Israel is paying a "high" strategic cost due to the loss of international support.
Milley was nominated by Trump in 2018 as chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff and officially took office on Sept. 30, 2019 for a four-year term. Previously, he has made similar remarks many times talking about China-U.S. relations.
In an interview with CNN in mid-September last year, Milley said that reform and opening up have led to rapid economic development in China, the center of gravity of the world economy has shifted to China, and now China has become the manufacturing capital of the world; having undergone such a transformation and possessed such economic strength, China has begun to invest in building a world-class military.
He argued that the United States should do everything possible to avoid open armed conflict with China and not repeat the mistakes of the "Great Powers" war.
Admiral Samuel Paparo - appointed by U.S. President Biden to assume command of the U.S. Indo-Pacific theater - also recently took the opportunity to extol the Taiwan Strait issue, warning that the protracted conflict in Ukraine would not deter China from taking military action on the Taiwan issue.
During his testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Feb. 1, Paparo added that in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, China has paid attention to Russia's actions, learning from them how to win a short and hard battle.
Adm. Sam Paparo
He also speculated that Beijing realizes it must act "quickly and ruthlessly" against Taiwan to present the world with a "fait accompli."
Paparo added that Beijing is closely watching the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and will "redouble its military capability to implement its strategic, operational and tactical warnings and to act as quickly as possible."
Paparo warned that despite the extremely high cost of military action against Taiwan, China could act at any time and the U.S. must remain vigilant: "We don't have a vacation from now until they do, and we need to be ready next week, next month and for decades to come."
Paparo said a key capability to deal with the Chinese threat is a continued focus on intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions and that countering China's ISR capabilities will be its "number one priority."
He also said that while China's naval buildup is proceeding rapidly, the U.S. Navy has "not yet been overtaken." But Paparo also said he "does not like the pace of development" and pointed out some weaknesses in the U.S. Navy.
Paparo said support for U.S. military operations in the region has never been more important, and that such support must extend to allied nations and partners. He stressed that the United States must work with allies and its partners because they are its "main asymmetric advantage" over China.
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