Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on the 23rd local time that if the defense budget is reduced and the US military is forced to reduce operations such as crossing the Taiwan Strait, freedom of navigation, and intelligence monitoring, it will increase risks and send wrong messages, which may lead to more provocations by China or other countries.
When attending the hearing of the National Defense Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee of the Federal House of Representatives, Milley said that China is the most serious geostrategic opponent facing the United States today, but the United States does not want to have a great power war with China. The United States has always been the first to help maintain peace. Once it falls behind, it will become Very dangerous. But he also stressed that war with China was neither inevitable nor imminent.
When asked about the possible impact of providing reliable intimidation capabilities to the U.S. military if the defense budget is reduced, especially on China’s activities in the Indo-Pacific region, Milley said that this will force the U.S. military to slow down the pace of operations, reduce crossings of the Taiwan Strait, and reduce freedom of navigation. , reducing air patrols, reducing “intelligence, monitoring and reconnaissance”, “everything will be reduced”, which will increase the risk and danger, and send the wrong message. The likely result will be that China or other countries will accelerate some kind of provocative action in the future.
On the same day, Davidson, former commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, attended a seminar on Taiwan’s national defense and security at the U.S. think tank National Bureau of Asian Research. And whether the People’s Liberation Army may hold military exercises. Davidson did not respond positively, but when he talked about Pelosi, then Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, visiting Taiwan in August last year, which led to a large-scale PLA exercise, he claimed that the daily political actions of any country or region were used as an excuse to do whatever they wanted .
Source: 163