US president-elect Donald Trump’s surprise pick of Pete Hegseth, a television host and army veteran, to be his Pentagon chief is expected to inject more unpredictability into the already fragile US-China military relationship, according to analysts.
Hegseth, 44, is a Fox News political commentator and a military veteran who served tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is known as a frequent critic of the media and the Democratic Party, with a hawkish stance towards China.
In an interview to promote his recent book, Hegseth said: “China’s building an army specifically dedicated to defeating the United States of America.” He added that the US is “always a decade behind and fighting the last war”.
Last year, he said on his television programme that China had a plan to “supplant” the US culturally, financially and technologically “through leveraging their growing network of partners”. US President Joe Biden “obviously wasn’t concerned enough to do something about it”, he added.
Zhu Feng, executive dean of Nanjing University’s school of international studies, said Hegseth’s nomination could spark concerns about a potential negative impact on US-China military ties.
“Although he has long-term military service experience, he lacks experience in holding positions within the US military and defence system,” he said.
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