Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said today he discussed challenges posed by "an increasingly aggressive China" during recent meetings with NATO officials. "We here at the Pentagon and the Department of Defense view China as our primary pacing challenge and we believe NATO can better help us think through our operating concepts and investment strategies when it comes to meeting that challenge," he said during his first Pentagon press conference since become defense secretary. Austin said he discussed U.S. concerns about China with his defense counterparts from several NATO nations, including the European Union, Sweden and Finland. "We appreciated their unique perspectives, especially about China," he said. "I applaud NATO's work on China, and I made it clear that the United States is committed to defending the international rules-based order, which China has consistently undermined for its own interests." The 2018 National Defense Strategy first named China as the U.S. military's chief concern, above Russia and non-state terrorists.
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