‘China, China, China’: New Pentagon chief sets priority

Patrick Shanahan, the acting US defense secretary, has started his first full day at the Pentagon’s helm by telling colleagues he sees China as a key priority.

Shanahan, who took the top spot January 1 after Jim Mattis resigned amid disagreements with President Donald Trump, tells key Defense Department staff to focus on the National Defense Strategy, a broad review that highlights a new era of “Great Power competition” with Russia and China.

“While we are focused on ongoing operations, Acting Secretary Shanahan told the team to remember China, China, China,” a defense official says.

The US accuses Beijing of an ongoing pattern of military and economic espionage, and has criticized China’s ambitious “Belt and Road” trade and infrastructure initiative as being a form of economic coercion.

“In 2019, the National Defense Strategy remains our guide. America’s military strength remains our focus,” Shanahan says in a New Year’s message on Twitter.

The defense official says Shanahan would later Wednesday attend a cabinet meeting with Trump, the president’s first of 2019.

— AFP