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Increasingly dangerous PRC bears scrutiny, top U.S. military official says

The Associated Press

The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) military has become significantly more aggressive and dangerous over the past five years, the top U.S. military officer said during a trip to the Indo-Pacific in late July 2022.

U.S. Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said intercepts by People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft and ships in the Indo-Pacific region with U.S. and partner forces have increased substantially, with unsafe interactions rising proportionately.

“The message is the Chinese military, in the air and at sea, have become significantly more and noticeably more aggressive in this particular region,” said Milley, who has directed his staff to detail interactions between the PLA and the U.S. and its partners in the region. (Pictured: U.S. Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, left, meets with Indonesian Armed Forces Chief Gen. Andika Perkasa in Jakarta in late July 2022.)

His comments came as the U.S. redoubles efforts to strengthen relationships with other Indo-Pacific nations as a counterbalance to the CCP, which is trying to expand its influence in the region. U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration considers the CCP to be the nation’s top long-term security challenge.

Milley’s trip focused on the CCP threat. He met with other Indo-Pacific defense chiefs in Australia, with key topics being the CCP’s escalating military growth and the need to maintain a free, open and peaceful Indo-Pacific.

U.S. military officials have also raised alarm about a potential CCP invasion of Taiwan, the democratic, self-ruled island that Beijing claims is a breakaway province. The CCP has stepped up military provocations, hoping to intimidate Taiwan.

U.S. military officials have said Beijing wants to be ready to invade the island by 2027. The U.S. is Taiwan’s chief weapons supplier. The U.S. and other nations are also worried that an April 2022 security agreement between Beijing and the Solomon Islands could lead to the establishment of a PLA naval base in the South Pacific. The U.S. and Australia have said that such a scenario could not be tolerated.

“This is an area in which China is trying to do outreach for their own purposes. And again, this is concerning because China is not doing it just for benign reasons,” Milley said. “They’re trying to expand their influence throughout the region. And that has potential consequences that are not necessarily favorable to our allies and partners in the region.”

Milley said there have been Chinese intercepts with Australia, Canada, Japan, the Philippines and Vietnam. Those nations, he said, have seen a “statistically significant” increase in intercepts, and the number of unsafe incidents has increased by an “equal proportion.”

IMAGE CREDIT: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

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