Next 2 Years ‘Dangerous Period’ for Possible US-China Conflict, Ex-National Security Adviser Claims

The hawkish retired lieutenant general was interrupted by peace activists while calling for more taxpayer funding for a confrontation with China.

Former national security adviser H.R. McMaster insisted that the next two years will be a “dangerous period” in which a US-Chinese conflict could potentially erupt over Taiwan, the official told lawmakers during a House Select Committee hearing on China Tuesday.

In remarks to lawmakers, the hawkish retired Army lieutenant general cited American and Taiwanese elections slated for 2024 as some of the reasons he apparently believes that “what [Chinese President] Xi Jinping sees is a fleeting window of opportunity… to move while he perceives weakness in the United States.”

“If we think of deterrence as capability times will, our capabilities are not where they should be and capacity and their perception — which I don't think is right — but the [Communist] party's perception of our will I think makes it a dangerous period,” he stated.

Detailing how the Chinese military was able to successfully develop antidotes to much more costly American military hardware, McMaster said “what has happened is the People's Liberation Army studied us.”

But rather than mimicking what he called “our exquisite capabilities,” the retired general explained that “they developed countermeasures” instead.

"We need now — and we've had needed for some time — investments in countermeasures to those countermeasures, but we haven't been able to pull it off," he insisted.

McMaster claimed that in order to understand contemporary geopolitical dynamics, “it’s worth going back and reading the joint statement between Xi Jinping and [Russian President] Vladimir Putin on the eve of the Beijing Olympics.”

"The message,” according to the famously hardline general, was, “‘hey, United States, West, free world, you're over. It's a time for a new era of international relations. And we're in charge now.’”

Inverting a criticism frequently leveled at the US by its rivals, McMaster claimed that not only is China pursuing a militaristic path, it’s doing so in order to distract domestic audiences from their economic woes.

“What better way to divert the disappointments of the Chinese people then through jingoistic nationalist sentiment focused largely on Taiwan?” he asked, with no apparent sense of irony.

At one point, the hearing was disrupted by several peace activists with the anti-war group Code Pink, who bore signs and t-shirts declaring “China is not our enemy” and calling for “money for the poor, not for war.”

At least one of the activists was arrested by police. Code Pink founder Medea Benjamin subsequently remarked it was “ironic” that “after Code Pink protested at [the] congressional hearing on China, the witness bragged that unlike in China, people in [the] US have the right to free speech.”

Posting a photo of the jailed protester languishing in a police vehicle, she continued: “Here's what happened when @oliviadinucci exercised her right to free speech and called for peace with China.”

How ironic. After CODEPINK protested at congressional hearing on China, the witness bragged that unlike in China, people in US have the right to free speech. Here's what happened when @oliviadinucci exercised her right to free speech and called for peace with China. pic.twitter.com/L1QCZixcwK

— Medea Benjamin (@medeabenjamin) March 1, 2023

McMaster suggested afterwards —without providing evidence — that the interruption may have actually been the work of Chinese propagandists.

"I think these eruptions are indicative of really the effect that the United Front Work Department has had," he said.

"And maybe we can talk more about that during the course of the hearing. I think they have reinforced to some degree what you might call a bit of a curriculum of self-loathing that has taken hold in academia for many years.”

“They, they reinforce, I think, the idea that America is the problem in the world and only if America disengages or in this case becomes more passive that things will get better," he claimed.