New US Defence Official for China Affairs “Will be a Stabilising Force”

South China Morning Post

02 October 2019

A Pentagon official warned of the challenges presented by China’s rise following its show of military might on Tuesday, and Washington’s decision to establish a new department to oversee its military relations with Beijing.

Speaking just hours after China’s largest ever military parade, held to celebrate 70 years of Communist Party rule, Randall Schriver, assistant secretary of defence for Indo-Pacific security affairs, said the Pentagon saw Beijing’s expansive military development as seeking to erode US dominance in the region.

… Collin Koh, a research fellow with the Maritime Security Programme at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said the new post would align well with the Pentagon’s focus on China, especially in recognising it as a strategic peer competitor.

“But it’s not just coming up with competitive responses to the People’s Liberation Army’s modernisation,” he said. “It is also likely to help facilitate confidence- and security-building measures, as well as practical security cooperation.”

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