During an interview with CNN Pentagon Correspondent Oren Liebermann on Monday aired on Monday’s broadcast of CNN’s “The Lead,” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley stated that there is certainly a competition between the U.S. and China, “and arguably, we’re in confrontation. But we’re not yet in a conflict.” And he doesn’t view a war between the two as inevitable.
Milley said, “Both countries are significant powers, great powers — if you want to call it that — in the world today. Both countries have significant amounts of nuclear weapons. They’ve got large and capable militaries. So, a conflict between great powers — arguably, we’re in — for sure, we’re in competition, and arguably, we’re in confrontation. But we’re not yet in a conflict.”
Milley also stated, “I personally don’t think that war between China and the United States is inevitable. I don’t think it’s imminent. But it needs to stay in a status of competition. In order to do that, countries have to talk to each other, and, in times of crisis, it’s necessary to de-escalate.”
He also said, “I have not had an opportunity to talk to my counterpart. I talked to my previous counterpart. We’ve sent out messages, and they’ve sent messages back and forth, so there are some communications going back and forth, but we would like to have an opportunity to talk, and I think they would like to have an opportunity to talk.”
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