During multiple secret phone calls, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley promised China’s top general that he would warn the communist nation of an impending attack from the United States, according to a new book by journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa.
According to excerpts first revealed Tuesday from the forthcoming book entitled “Peril,”
as reported by the Washington Post, the first phone call took place on Oct. 30, 2020, just four days before the presidential election between then-President Donald Trump and Joe Biden. The second call took place on Jan. 8, 2021, two days after the storming of the United States Capitol.
“General Li, I want to assure you that the American government is stable and everything is going to be okay,” Milley told the People’s Liberation Army general. “We are not going to attack or conduct any kinetic operations against you.”
“General Li, you and I have known each other for now five years.
If we’re going to attack, I’m going to call you ahead of time,” Milley added. “It’s not going to be a surprise.”