US top general secretly called China over fears Trump could spark war
Report says Gen Mark Milley was fearful and convinced that the former president might launch a war
WASHINGTON : America's top general secretly called his Chinese counterpart twice over concerns then President Donald Trump could spark a war with China as his potential election loss loomed and in its aftermath, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday.
General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called General Li Zuocheng of the People's Liberation Army on Oct 30last year - four days before the US election - and again on Jan 8, two days after Trump supporters led a deadly riot at the US Capitol, the newspaper reported.
In the calls, Gen Milley sought to assure Gen Li that the US was stable and was not going to attack and, if there were to be an attack, he would alert his counterpart ahead of time, the report said.
The report was based on Peril, a new book by journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa, which they said relied on interviews with 200 sources and is due to be released next week.
Mr Trump cast doubt on the report, calling it "fabricated". He said if it was true, Gen Milley should be tried for treason.
"For the record, I never even thought of attacking China," Mr Trump said.
Republican Senator Marco Rubio called on President Joe Biden, a Democrat, to immediately fire Gen Milley.
"I do not need to tell you the dangers posed by senior military officers leaking classified information on US military operations, but I will underscore that such subversion undermines the President's ability to negotiate and leverage one of this nation's instruments of national power in his interactions with foreign nations," Mr Rubio said in a letter to Mr Biden.
Asked about the Washington Post report, White House spokesman Karine Jean-Pierre declined to comment and referred questions to the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Defence Department.
CRAZY
Mr Trump, a Republican, named Gen Milley to the top military post in 2018 but began criticising him, as well as other appointees and former staff, after losing the presidential election to Mr Biden in November last year.
The Washington Post reported that Gen Milley was motivated to contact Beijing the second time in part due to a Jan 8 call with US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who had asked the general what safeguards were in place to prevent an "unstable president" from launching a nuclear strike.
"He is crazy. You know he is crazy," Ms Pelosi told Gen Milley, the newspaper reported, citing a transcript of the call.
According to the cited call transcript, the general replied: "I agree with you on everything." - REUTERS
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now
