During an interview with “PBS NewsHour” Foreign Affairs and Defense Correspondent Nick Schifrin aired on Wednesday’s “PBS NewsHour,” outgoing Commander of the United States Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) Adm. John Aquilino stated that “over my last three years, the security environment has changed drastically, and not in a good way.” And China’s “verbalization is more aggressive and their actions are more aggressive, and they’ve now accelerated to dangerous.” And they’ve decided “that taking aggressive actions is within their interests and to the benefit of their strategic objectives.”
Aquilino said, “As I look at over my last three years, the security environment has changed drastically, and not in a good way. When you look at the PRC as the most concerning security threat that exists, they continue to be more aggressive in a variety of areas. They are challenging the current international rules to benefit an authoritarian society that does not provide a benefit for anyone else in the region. They’ve expanded their military capability. Their verbalization is more aggressive and their actions are more aggressive and they’ve now accelerated to dangerous.”
Schifrin asked, “Are Chinese actions increasing the chances of U.S.-Chinese conflict?”
Aquilino responded, “Yeah, the Chinese actions are certainly destabilizing to the region. They are putting at risk the Philippine Coast Guardsmen, sailors, and those fishermen that operate in their exclusive economic zone, within the full rights of the Philippines.”
Later Schifrin asked if China hasn’t paid enough of a price for its actions. Aquilino answered that China has “clearly made a risk determination that taking aggressive actions is within their interests and to the benefit of their strategic objectives. You’d have to ask them on how they’re thinking about this. Their actions tell a story, as I look at it.”
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