U.S. Indo-Pacific Command head Adm. John Aquilino has expressed concern that the deteriorating security environment in Asia and beyond is escalating tensions and increasing the potential for miscalculation that could erupt into full-blown conflict.
“As I look at what is going on, I see potentially the most dangerous period, certainly in my 30 years in this business, and potentially since World War II,” Aquilino said Saturday at the Shangri-La Dialogue security conference in Singapore, citing what he described as increasingly “aggressive behavior” in recent years by Russia, China, and North Korea.
The admiral noted, in particular, Moscow’s “illegitimate and unprovoked” invasion of Ukraine. He also pointed to Beijing’s “destabilizing” and “coercive” actions throughout the Indo-Pacific, including its unsafe intercepts of U.S. and allied aircraft, a failure to respect agreements regarding Hong Kong and border disputes such at the Sino-Indian border in the Himalayas.