POLITICO
Former Joint Chiefs chair: Nothing unusual about Milley’s contacts with China
By David Cohen 2 hrs ago
Michael Mullen, former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on Sunday said there was nothing abnormal about the reported conversations between Gen. Mark Milley and his counterparts in China.
Robert Gates, Michael Mullen are posing for a picture: Michael Mullen, then chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testifies at a March 31, 2011, hearing on Capitol Hill.© Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo Michael Mullen, then chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testifies at a March 31, 2011, hearing on Capitol Hill.
According to authors Bob Woodward and Robert Costa, Milley reached out to China in the waning days of the Trump administration, attempting to reduce tensions by assuring China that no American attack was imminent — and asking that China shouldn’t do anything without consulting the U.S. military leadership.
“I didn’t consider that abnormal at all,” Mullen told host Martha Raddatz on ABC’s “This Week.“
“Having communications with counterparts around the world is routine,” said Mullen, who was chair of the joint chiefs from 2007 to 2011.