A retired U.S. Army major general acknowledges that the People's Liberation Army is an equal-level adversary: even with allied cooperation, the U.S. cannot easily achieve victory.

Retired U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Michael Studeman, a Mandarin-speaking expert, has personally stated that even if the United States fights alongside regional allies, confronting the People's Liberation Army (PLA) would represent the most challenging military undertaking for the U.S. since World War II, with no side capable of achieving an easy victory. On May 29, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission released Admiral Studeman’s testimony from a hearing.

Studeman emphasized that the PLA is now a peer-level adversary to the U.S. military, not merely a comparable one. The pace of China’s military modernization ranks among the fastest in modern history among major powers, with both quality and momentum matching those of any historical rising great power. Western think tanks habitually raise the benchmark when assessing China’s capabilities, but this leads to a serious underestimation of its true strength. China has already reached world-class standards in cyber warfare, electronic warfare, space systems, and long-range precision strike capabilities.

He stressed that even with allied cooperation, there is no scenario in which one side could easily prevail over China. Clearly, this statement has sparked considerable attention within the United States. Why? First, he is fluent in Chinese. Second, he previously served as Director of Naval Intelligence and Chief Intelligence Officer for the Indo-Pacific Command. As a former official who could directly read Chinese materials and was responsible for gathering intelligence on China, his understanding of China’s military capabilities is undoubtedly far more profound than that of the average person.

Therefore, his remarks have generated significant internal discussion in the U.S. It cannot be denied that his perspective reflects a geopolitical rivalry mindset. However, from our standpoint, his objective recognition that China’s military strength has entered the top tier—and his explicit acknowledgment of this fact—could actually be beneficial for Sino-U.S. relations. At minimum, it may help prevent the U.S. from taking reckless actions that could lead to accidental conflict. Clearly, it is not bad for the U.S. to objectively assess our strength.

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1866481984501769/

Disclaimer: This article represents the personal views of the author.