Milley defends calls to Chinese at end of Trump presidency

WASHINGTON (AP):

The top US military officer told Congress on Tuesday that he knew former President Donald Trump wasn’t planning to attack China and that it was his job to reassure the Chinese of this in the phone calls that have triggered outrage from some lawmakers.

Army General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, delivered a vehement defence of two calls he made to his Chinese counterpart, saying he was responding to a “significant degree of intelligence” that China was worried about a US attack.

“I know, I am certain, that President Trump did not intend to attack the Chinese ... . And it was my directed responsibility by the secretary to convey that intent to the Chinese,” Milley told the Senate Armed Services Committee. “My task at that time was to de-escalate. My message again was consistent: Stay calm, steady, and de-escalate. We are not going to attack you.”

Milley has been at the centre of controversy after reports that he made two calls to General Li Zuocheng of the People’s Liberation Army to assure him that the United States was not suddenly going to go to war with or attack China. Details of the calls were first aired in excerpts from the recently released book Peril by Washington Post journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa.

While Tuesday’s hearing largely focused on the troop withdrawal from Afghanistan and the chaotic evacuation of Americans, Afghans and others from the country, a few senators condemned Milley for what they saw as inappropriate communications with Li.

In his most extensive comments to date on the matter, Milley said the calls on October 30 and January 8 were fully coordinated with the defence secretaries at the time, as well as other US national security agencies. And he said that such military-to-military communications are critical to prevent war between great powers that possess nuclear weapons.

The calls came during Trump’s turbulent last months in office as he challenged the results of the 2020 election. The second call came two days after January 6, when a violent mob attacked the US Capitol in an effort to prevent Congress from certifying Biden’s White House victory.