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US general says China seeks return to era of vassal states
- General Kenneth S. Wilsbach, commander of the US Pacific Air Forces, says recent PLA military flights close to Malaysia and Taiwan are ‘escalatory’ and ‘destabilising’
- He also expresses sympathy for Hongkongers prevented from joining the annual Tiananmen vigil at Victoria Park
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The commander of the United States Pacific Air Forces has accused China of seeking to return to the era of vassal states, likening the Communist Party to Chinese emperors that demanded fealty from their neighbours.
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During a conference call with Asia-based media, General Kenneth S. Wilsbach said on Friday it was “clear” Beijing aimed to be the sole superpower and expected other countries to “kowtow” to it.
“They don’t believe there can be multiple superpowers, they believe that there can only be one, and they want to return back to the glory days of [imperial] China where everybody else was a vassal state and everybody [kowtowed] to the emperor,” Wilsbach said.
“And the emperor now is the Chinese Communist Party.”
Wilsbach, who was promoted to the rank of four-star general last year, said Beijing’s militarisation of the South China Sea and other aggressive actions had fuelled distrust of its intentions across the world, pointing to recent moves by Britain, France and Germany to deploy warships to the region.
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