War with China likely in 15 years, says ex-US army general

WARSAW: The former commander of the U.S. Army in Europe has warned that it is very likely that the United States will be at war with China in 15 years.

Retired Lt Gen Ben Hodges said on Wednesday that European allies would have to do more to ensure their own defences in the face of a resurgent Russia as America would need to focus more on defending its interests in the Pacific.

“The United States needs a very strong European pillar.

“I think in 15 years – it’s not inevitable – but it is a very strong likelihood that we will be at war with China,” Hodges told a packed room at the Warsaw Security Forum, a two-day gathering of leaders and military and political experts from central Europe.

“The United States does not have the capacity to do everything it has to do in Europe and in the Pacific to deal with the Chinese threat.”

Hodges was US Army commander in Europe from 2014 until last year. He is now a strategic expert with the Center for European Policy Analysis, a research institute based in Washington.

Despite shifting geopolitical priorities, Hodges said the United States’ commitment to Nato remained “unshakable”.

He expressed certainty that President Donald Trump’s administration views Europe’s security as a key US interest, even though Trump has questioned the Western military alliance’s usefulness.

“So you’ll see us continue to invest here in Europe, continue to train, to practise rotational forces, as well as permanently assign forces for the eventuality that in 10 or 15 years we’re going to be having to fight in the Pacific,” Hodges said.

He said a recent near-miss between a US Navy destroyer and a Chinese warship in the disputed South China Sea was only one of the signs pointing to “an increasingly tense relationship and competition in all the different domains”.

Others, he said, were China’s “constant stealing of technology” and how China was gaining control of infrastructure by funding projects in Africa and Europe.