We could be at war with China within 15 years, says US general

THERE is a ‘strong likelihood’ the United States will be at war with China in 15 years, the former commander of the US army in Europe has warned.

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

Lt Gen Hodges spoke in Poland while addressing a packed room at the Warsaw Security Forum, a two-day gathering of leaders and military and political experts from central Europe.

He told them: ‘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. 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.’

Lt Gen Hodges was US army commander in Europe from 2014 until last year.

He is now a strategic expert with the Centre for European Policy Analysis, a Washington-based research institute. Despite shifting geopolitical priorities, Lt Gen Hodges said the US commitment to Nato remains ‘unshakeable’.

He said he is certain the Trump administration views Europe’s security as a key US interest even though President Donald Trump has sometimes questioned the Western military alliance’s usefulness. Lt Gen Hodges added: ‘So you’re going to see us continue to invest here in Europe, continue to train, to practice rotational forces, as well as permanently assign forces for the eventuality that in ten or 15 years we’re going to be having to fight in the Pacific.’

He told the Associated Press that a recent nearmiss between a US navy destroyer and a Chinese warship in the South China Sea was one of the signs pointing to ‘an increasingly tense relationship and increasing competition in all the different domains’.

Others, he said, are China’s ‘constant stealing of technology’ and how it is gaining control of infrastructure by funding projects in Africa and Europe.

He said China owns more than 10 per cent of the ports in Europe.