Top general defends back-channel calls to China

The White House said Wednesday it had no problem with revelations that the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff had secret conversations with his counterpart in China in the waning days of the Trump administration. A forthcoming book by journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa describes how Milley, fearful of President Donald Trump’s actions in his final weeks in office, twice called his China counterpart to assure officials there that the United States was not going to attack.

Is that legal? Some in Congress accused Milley of having overstepped his authority and urged President Joe Biden to fire him. But Biden said Wednesday he believes Milley did the right thing and he stands by him. In a statement, Milley said the conversations were intended to convey “reassurance” to the Chinese military and were in line with his responsibilities.

Dig deeper: Read Marvin Olasky’s Q&A with George Friedman about the state of U.S.-China relations.