The former commanding general of the US Army in Europe on Wednesday said it is very likely that the US will be at war with China in 15 years.
Retired lieutenant general Ben Hodges said that European allies would have to do more to ensure their own defenses in the face of a resurgent Russia, because the US would need to focus more attention on defending its interests in the Pacific Ocean.
“The United States needs a very strong European pillar. I think in 15 years — it’s not inevitable — but it is a very strong likelihood that we will be at war with China,” Hodges told a packed room at the Warsaw Security Forum, a two-day gathering of leaders, and military and political experts from central Europe.
Photo: AP
“The United States does not have the capacity to do everything it has to do in Europe and in the Pacific to deal with the Chinese threat,” he said.
Hodges commanded the US Army in Europe from 2014 until last year; he now is a strategic expert with the Center for European Policy Analysis in Washington.
Despite Washington’s shifting geopolitical priorities, Hodges said that the US’ commitment to NATO remains “unshakable.”
Photo: Reuters
Hodges later told reporters that a recent near-miss between a US Navy destroyer and a Chinese warship in the South China Sea was only one of the signs pointing to “an increasingly tense relationship and increasing competition in all the different domains.”
Others are China’s “constant stealing of technology” and how China is gaining control of infrastructure by funding projects in Africa and Europe, he said, noting that China owns more than 10 percent of the ports in Europe.
In Beijing, Chinese Minister of National Defense General Wei Fenghe (魏鳳和) yesterday warned that any effort to challenge China’s authority over Taiwan was “extremely dangerous.”
“Taiwan is China’s core interest. On these issues, it’s extremely dangerous to challenge China’s bottom line repeatedly. If anyone tries to separate Taiwan from China, China’s military will take action at all costs,” he at the start of the Beijing Xiangshan Forum, a regional military gathering.
He also called on US leaders to drop what he said was a “Cold War mentality.”
Wei, who met with US Secretary of Defense James Mattis on Friday last week at the Shangri-la Dialogue in Singapore, said military facilities were needed to protect Chinese interests in the South China Sea.
“The South China Sea situation is stabilizing, which proves that all countries can take care of their own affairs,” Wei said.
“China opposes countries that come to the South China Sea from outside of the region in the name of freedom of navigation to show force and provoke, which leads to rising tensions,” he said.
Destroyers from US and Chinese navies nearly collided in the area last month during a US “freedom-of-navigation operation” to challenge what it says are illegal territorial claims by China and its neighbors.
Wei said China had no interest in engaging in an arms race.
He also denounced claims by US President Donald Trump’s administration that the Chinese government was attempting to meddle in the US midterm elections, saying the accusations had “severely damaged” ties.
“It has been proven that a hegemonic and confrontational security model is outdated,” Wei said. “The world shouldn’t repeat the Cold War. All countries should respect each other’s sovereignty, security and development rights.”
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary