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The hawkish retired lieutenant general was interrupted by peace activists while calling for more taxpayer funding for a confrontation with China.
Former national security adviser H.R. McMaster insisted that the next two years will be a “dangerous period” in which a US-Chinese conflict could potentially erupt over Taiwan, the official told lawmakers during a House Select Committee hearing on China Tuesday.
In remarks to lawmakers, the hawkish retired Army lieutenant general cited American and Taiwanese elections slated for 2024 as some of the reasons he apparently believes that “what [Chinese President] Xi Jinping sees is a fleeting window of opportunity… to move while he perceives weakness in the United States.”
“If we think of deterrence as capability times will, our capabilities are not where they should be and capacity and their perception — which I don't think is right — but the [Communist] party's perception of our will I think makes it a dangerous period,” he stated.
McMaster claimed that in order to understand contemporary geopolitical dynamics, “it’s worth going back and reading the joint statement between Xi Jinping and [Russian President] Vladimir Putin on the eve of the Beijing Olympics.”
"The message,” according to the famously hardline general, was, “‘hey, United States, West, free world, you're over. It's a time for a new era of international relations. And we're in charge now.’”
Inverting a criticism frequently leveled at the US by its rivals, McMaster claimed that not only is China pursuing a militaristic path, it’s doing so in order to distract domestic audiences from their economic woes.
“What better way to divert the disappointments of the Chinese people then through jingoistic nationalist sentiment focused largely on Taiwan?” he asked, with no apparent sense of irony.
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