Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen will be in the People’s Republic of China for much of the next week to engage in talks with his counterparts from the People’s Liberation Army. His visit comes amidst a thaw in U.S.–Chinese military-to-military relations, capped by the visit of General Chen Bingde, chief of the Chinese general staff. The Chinese have long seen military-to-military contact as a U.S. “ask”—particularly since 1999, when Congress imposed legal restrictions on precisely what sort of information could be shared. Therefore, Admiral Mullen’s …
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, said yesterday he supports spending at least 4% of GDP on defense to secure America’s freedom. Mullen’s comments came during a wide-ranging speech at Heritage about the state of the U.S. military and its role in the world. In addressing a question about defense spending, Mullen said America needs to have a national debate on how much the government should spend on security in these dangerous times. The U.S. currently spends much more on leisure pursuits than on national …
