FLASHBACK: General Milley rants about how China is ‘not an enemy’

"China is not an enemy," he said, "I think that's important for people to clearly understand."

"China is a rising power," Milley said in his capacity as Chief of Staff for the United States Army, a post he held from 2015-2019. "China has been a rising power since Deng Xiaoping in '79, and they've been clicking off 10 percent growth for almost 30 years, and they dropped down to about 7 percent last year, and they'll probably drop into the range of normalcy of 3-5 percent growth. But that's still significant economic growth."

"And there's been a really large, historic change from a North Atlantic-based global economy to now, it's proceeding to be, a North Pacific-based global economy."

"With respect to China," Milley said, "what normally happens historically, is, not in all cases, but in most cases, where you have economic growth of that magnitude, typically follows military power. And that's what we're seeing."

"We're seeing a significant in Chinese military capabilities over the last 10 to 20 years, and they are going to develop themselves, and are developing themselves, into a great power," Milley said.

"That is not to say, however, that they're an enemy."

In a new book Peril out from Bob Woodward and the Washington Post's Robert Costa, it is revealed that Joint Chief's Chairman General Mark Milley told Gen. Li Zuocheng of the People’s Liberation Army that if the US were to attack China, Milley would let Li know before it happened.

Milley was apparently afraid that President Trump would engage in hostilities, and went around Trump in order to take power, by speaking with Gen. Li Zuocheng of the People's Liberation Army. Milley assured him that the US would not engage in armed hostilities with the communist nation, according to the Washington Post. The book comes out next week.

The White House defended Milley on Wednesday, saying that "The outgoing President... during this period of time, fomented unrest leading to an insurrection and an attack on our nation's capital on January 6."

"The President has complete confidence in his leadership, his patriotism, and his fidelity to our Constitution," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said.