Ex-naval intelligence commander sees ‘dangerous trend’ in closed US-China communications
- Michael Studeman, former commander of Pentagon’s office of naval intelligence, says Beijing may ‘believe that if you have a hotline, that we’re more prone to risky behaviour’
- Comments come a year after Beijing suspended all military communication channels with US after then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan
Washington already faces obstacles understanding Beijing’s decision-making process, and it could be growing into a “dangerous trend” since China cut military communication channels with the US, a former US military intelligence leader said on Monday.
“China is tough to truly understand … We don’t have enough and we need to have greater understanding so we can map out decision-making circles, and who influences who, and how choices were made,” Michael Studeman, a rear admiral who was commander of the Office of Naval Intelligence until last month, said at a Hudson Institute event titled “A Requiem for Dominance: New US Strategies to Deter Aggression”.
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Calling the Chinese system “clunky” under President Xi Jinping, Studeman said: “There’s no way to potentially guarantee that you can get the right sort of information at the right time.”
“And this is the scary thing with regard to the Chinese view towards cutting off communications with the US military – not having hot lines.”
After then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan a year ago, Beijing cut off three main military communication channels with Washington. When US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Beijing in June, he proposed restoring those channels, but Xi rejected the offer.
On Monday, Studeman said that Beijing could be requiring the US to improve its attitude and show respect, but also working from the belief that a hotline could lead to potentially hazardous action.