Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley's calls to his Chinese counterpart during former President Donald Trump's final months in office were coordinated at an interagency level and assured strategic stability, the general's spokesperson Dave Butler said on Wednesday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th September, 2021) Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley's calls to his Chinese counterpart during former President Donald Trump's final months in office were coordinated at an interagency level and assured strategic stability, the general's spokesperson Dave Butler said on Wednesday.
US media reported on Tuesday that Milley feared Trump might start a war with China at the end of his tenure that he called his Chinese counterpart in October and January to assure Beijing that an attack from the United States was not imminent.
"His calls with the Chinese and others in October and January were in keeping with these duties and responsibilities conveying reassurance in order to maintain strategic stability," Butler said in a press release. "All calls from the Chairman to his counterparts, including those reported, are staffed, coordinated and communicated with the Department of Defense and the interagency."
Butler said the Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman regularly communicates with counterparts across the world, including China and Russia, to improve mutual understanding of US national security interests, reducing tensions and avoiding unintended consequences or conflict.
The accusations against Milley are revealed in the upcoming book "Peril" by Washington Post's Associate Editor Bob Woodward and reporter Robert Costa. The book is based on more than 200 interviews with officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
According to the book, the US intelligence community determined Beijing was nervous the United States was preparing an attack following rising tensions over military exercises in the South China Sea and Trump's hostile talk toward China.
