The U.S. is not trying to goad China into a military conflict, the Pentagon’s no. 2 official said Friday, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s remark last summer that he thinks the U.S. is trying to bait him into invading Taiwan so the U.S. can step in.
In the waning weeks of her tenure, Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks told an audience at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies that the U.S. is watching its words and actions when it comes to China, lest any hint escalate into a confrontation neither country can walk back.
“Even if deterrence is what we intend, it behooves us to consider how our actions might be perceived behind closed doors on the other side,” Hicks said. “And it behooves China to do the same.”
But the U.S is not “trying to bait or trick them into a war,” she added.
The U.S. is keeping a close eye on People’s Liberation Army exercises and its public comments about the potential use of force against Taiwan’s independence movement.
“We don’t believe conflict is inevitable. But it’s our job to prevent war, by always being ready for war if it comes,” she said. “So where Beijing might see DOD anticipating a potential conflict, that’s because we’re concerned Beijing will instigate one. Both sides must try hard to avoid misunderstandings in this dynamic.”
Her statement echoed headlines from four years ago, when it came to light that the then-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army Gen. Mark Milley, had called his Chinese counterpart just before the 2020 election and again after the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol, moves he said were to assure Beijing that chaos in the administration would not result in lashing out against China.
“My task at that time was to de-escalate,” Milley told senators during a subsequent Senate hearing, saying he was motivated “by concerning intelligence which caused us to believe the Chinese were worried about an attack by the U.S.”
Hicks described the U.S. approach as “peace through strength,” an expression dating back to the 1950s, which President Joe Biden invoked in a speech at NATO’s 75th anniversary over the summer, and which President-elect Donald Trump has dropped in multiple social media posts since winning reelection.
Trump announced in December that he would nominate Stephen Feinberg, a career hedge fund manager, to replace Hicks. To fill her boss’s shoes, Trump plans to nominate Pete Hegseth, a former Army National Guard infantry officer and longtime Fox News contributor.
Hegseth has famously said China is “building an army specifically dedicated to defeating the United States of America.”
He’ll face questions on his potential China policies and more Tuesday at a confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
