Mullen moves from ‘curious’ to ‘concerned’ over China’s military

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Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, talks to an audience of about 300 soldiers during a town hall-like meeting Wednesday at Camp Red Cloud in South Korea. Mullen touched on a variety of subjects during the one-hour meeting, including U.S. relations with China and North Korea.


Mullen moves from ‘curious’ to ‘concerned’ over China’s military
By Jon Rabiroff
Stars and Stripes
Published: July 21, 2010

CAMP RED CLOUD, South Korea — Joints Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen talked tough about North Korea here Wednesday, but he said China’s actions of late have given him pause.

“I’ve moved from being curious about what they’re doing, to being concerned about what they’re doing,” Mullen said of China, in comments to about 300 soldiers at a town hall-like meeting here.

“I see a fairly significant investment in high-end equipment – satellites, ships … anti-ship missiles, obviously high-end aircraft and all those kinds of things,” he said. “They are (also) shifting from a focus on their ground forces to focus on their navy … and their air force.

“It is the (lack of) transparency … with respect to China that is probably most vexing, because it is difficult to figure out where they’re headed,” he added. “I’d like to have a conversation to see where they’re going, and right now I can’t do that.”

Mullen’s comments come as tensions continue to escalate in the Pacific region, where the U.S. and South Korea are preparing for a large-scale military exercise next week designed as a show of strength to North Korea, and as retribution for the North’s alleged role in the March 26 sinking of the Cheonan warship that left 46 South Korean sailors dead.