Speaking at a US Air Force base 250 miles from Chinese territory on Wednesday, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin criticized China’s push to develop a new array of hypersonic weapons, claiming they are increasing tensions in the region.
“[W]e have concerns about the military capabilities that the PRC continues to pursue, and the pursuit of those capabilities increases tensions in the region, and we know that China conducted a test of a hypersonic weapon on the 27th of July,” Austin said at a Wednesday press conference with his South Korean counterpart, Suh Wook, at Osan Air Base.
“It just underscores why we consider the PRC to be our pacing challenge. And we’ll continue to maintain the capabilities to defend and deter against a range of potential threats from the PRC to ourselves and to our allies,” Austin added.
Source: Sputnik
