US Army General Mark Milley on Tuesday told the US Congress that he knew former US president Donald Trump was not planning to attack China and that it was his job to reassure the Chinese of this in telephone calls.
Milley, who is chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, defended the two calls he made to his Chinese counterpart, saying that 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 in Washington. “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.”
Photo: AP
Milley has been at the center of controversy after reports that he made two calls to Chinese People’s Liberation Army General Li Zuocheng (李作成) to assure him that the US 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 Oct. 30 last year and Jan. 8 were fully coordinated with the defense secretaries at the time as well as other US national security agencies.
Such military-to-military communications are critical to prevent war between great powers that possess nuclear weapons, he said.
Milley said the October call was made at the direction of then-US secretary of defense Mark Esper, and the second was done at the request of the Chinese and coordinated with then-acting US secretary of defense Chris Miller’s office.
Asked if he spoke with the book’s authors and if his remarks were “accurately represented,” Milley said he spoke with Woodward and that he has not read the book, but has seen press reports on it.
Milley also addressed a call he received from US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Pelosi “called me to inquire about the president’s ability to launch nuclear weapons,” he said. “I sought to assure her that nuclear launch is governed by a very specific and deliberate process.”
He said he assured her that while the president is the sole nuclear launch authority, “he doesn’t launch them alone.”
“There is no chance of an illegal, unauthorized or accidental launch,” Milley said.
The book says that during the call, Milley agreed with Pelosi’s statement that Trump was suffering a mental decline after his election loss.
During Tuesday’s hearing, Milley appeared to discount that, saying: “I am not qualified to determine the mental health of the president of the United States.”
“At no time was I attempting to change or influence the process, usurp authority or insert myself in the chain of command, but I am expected, I am required, to give my advice and ensure that the president is fully informed,” Milley said.
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