The Chinese military has become significantly more aggressive and dangerous over the past five years, the United States' top military officer said during a trip to the Indo-Pacific that included a stop in Indonesia.
Gen Mark Milley, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, said on Sunday that the number of intercepts by Chinese aircraft and ships in the Pacific region with US and other partner forces had increased significantly over that time, and the number of unsafe interactions has risen by similar proportions.
"The message is the Chinese military, in the air and at sea, have become significantly more and noticeably more aggressive in this particular region," said Milley, who recently asked his staff to compile details about interactions between China and the US and others in the region.
His comments, made en route to a meeting with Indonesian defence chiefs in Jakarta, came as the Indonesian president, Joko Widodo, prepared to set off to Bejiing for a two-day visit on Monday where he will meet the Chinese president, Xi Jinping. It will be the first time in two years that a foreign leader has been received individually by Beijing aside from February's Winter Olympics.
Milley's trip to the region is sharply focused on the China threat. He will attend a meeting of Indo-Pacific defence chiefs this coming week in Australia, where key topics will be China's escalating military growth and the need to maintain a free, open and peaceful Pacific.
US military officials have also raised alarms about the possibility that China could invade Taiwan – possibly by 2027. China has stepped up its military provocations against the self-ruled island as it looks to intimidate it into unifying with the communist mainland.
The US and others are also worried that a recent security agreement that Beijing signed in April with the Solomon Islands could lead to the establishment of a Chinese naval base in the South Pacific. The US and Australia have told the Solomon Islands that hosting a Chinese military base would not be tolerated.
"This is an area in which China is trying to do outreach for their own purposes – and again, this is concerning because China is not doing it just for benign reasons," Milley told reporters travelling with him. "They're trying to expand their influence throughout the region. And that has potential consequences that are not necessarily favourable to our allies and partners in the region."
The Biden administration has been taking steps to expand its military and security relationship with Indo-Pacific nations as part of a campaign to build a stronger network of alliances in China's backyard and counter China's growing influence
Milley, who met on Sunday with Gen Andika Perkasa, chief of the Indonesian military, said Pacific nations like Indonesia wanted the US military involved and engaged in the region.
"We want to work with them to develop interoperability and modernise our militaries collectively," Milley said, in order to ensure they could "meet whatever challenge that China poses".
He said Indonesia was strategically critical to the region, and had long been a key US partner.
Milley, who spent the afternoon at Indonesia's military headquarters in Jakarta, was greeted with a massive billboard bearing his photo and name, a military parade and a large television screen that showed a video of his career.
At the end of the visit, Andika told reporters that Indonesia had found China to be more assertive and "a little bit aggressive" with naval vessels in connection with territorial disputes with his country.
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