Why a US Navy admiral says China won’t pick up the military hotline
“This is a very dangerous trend in terms of our ability as major powers to truly work out our issues," Rear Adm. Michael Studeman said of the lack of communications.
By JUSTIN KATZ
on August 07, 2023 at 2:09 PM
WASHINGTON — Over the last few months top Pentagon officials have sounded the alarm that their counterparts in China are ignoring their calls. But a senior US Navy official said he suspects that behind the diplomatic cold shoulder is Beijing’s belief that the US sees the hotline as a “safety net,” and that not answering could curb US actions in the region in the first place.
“They… believe that if you have a hotline, that we’re more prone to risky behavior because that’s our kind of safety net,” Rear Adm. Mike Studeman said during an event at the Hudson Institute today. If a crisis emerges, “then they [the US] want an out. They want the ability to negotiate their way out of it. Just don’t give them a safety net, and then maybe they’ll be more conservative with their forces and their behavior.”
Studeman warned that “whatever the logic is, [this] leads to very little official communication now.”
https://breakingdefense.com/2023/08/why-a-us-navy-admiral-says-china-wont-pick-up-the-military-hotline/
