WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine), Chairman of the Strategic Forces Subcommittee and member of the Congressional Executive Commission on China, questioned U.S. Navy Admiral Philip Davidson, Commander of the United States Indo-Pacific Command, on China’s recent investments in militarization in the Pacific region.  During the hearing in the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator King sought the thoughts of Admiral Davidson about if China’s new activities were an indicator of China’s long-term strategic goals, including whether it seems to be prioritizing an offensive or defensive mindset.

SENATOR KING: “Admiral, you’ve spent a lot of time in this region in the last several years, you’ve thought a lot about China as you’ve indicated today – here’s a kind of mind-reading question: why are they  militarizing; why are they suddenly spending so much money? Is it because of the paranoia about being attacked or it because of preparing for aggression? See the difference?”

ADMIRAL DAVIDSON: “Yes sir absolutely, I appreciate your question. That’s exactly the issue at hand. I see them developing capabilities and posture that would indicate that they’re interested in aggression…”

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Senator King followed up by asking Admiral Davidson about collaborative efforts between Russia and China, and potential impacts on U.S. national security and foreign policy.

SENATOR KING: “What do you see strategically, militarily, technically, in terms of cooperation between Russia and China. In the 50s and 60s, they were considered a monolith and then they split, are they moving toward a greater degree of cooperation – is that something we should be concerned about?”

Admiral Davidson replied that he is indeed seeing collaboration between Russia and China – citing an incidents over the past three years where Chinese and Russian bombers joined forces and patrolled through the sea of Japan to the Philippines Sea. He also noted that there is likely strategic discussion between the two nation states. Admiral Davidson strongly agreed with Senator this is an area of concern and that he will continue to monitor.

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Lastly, Senator King asked if the U.S. Navy is equipped to diffuse accidental conflicts.

SENATOR KING: One final short question. My concern is accidental conflict – a destroyer’s in the South China Sea, a Chinese pilot miscalculates, runs into the destroyer, there’s escalation from there. What do we have in place in the form of MIL to MIL contact or other mechanisms for diffusing accidental conflict. There are some very serious worldwide conflicts that have begun with accidents.

Admiral Davidson acknowledged Senator King’s concern, and assured him that he will handle communications professionally to avoid accidental escalation.

As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Senator King is recognized as a thoughtful voice on national security and foreign policy issues in the Senate. Today’s exchange is the most recent instance of Senator King returning to a key American concern in military briefings, raising it to Generals and global affairs experts such as Henry Kissinger: “What does China want?” He voted in favor of the Senate’s passage of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2021, which includes several funding and policy priorities advocated for by Senator King to support military facilities and communities in Maine and advance the national defense. The legislation – containing 25 bipartisan cybersecurity recommendations from the Cyberspace Solarium Commission – became law earlier this year after Senator King and the overwhelming majority of his colleagues voted to override President Trump’s veto. In addition to his committee work, Senator King serves on the the Senate North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Observer Group, and is Co-Chair of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission.