The Pentagon disagrees with Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden's insistence that China is not a threat to the United States.
Two days after Biden made the comment during a campaign stop in Iowa, a senior Pentagon official pushed back.
"I'll stick with the language in our national security strategy and our national defense strategy, which identifies China as a strategic competitor," said Assistant Defense Secretary for Asia Randall Schriver, according to Fox News.
The Pentagon submitted a report to Congress this week that discussed the global threats the United States is facing and will face in the future. Schriver spoke at a press briefing in regards to the report and reiterated that China continues to build up its military.
"China seeks to become both prosperous and powerful. And the report notes that China has a stated goal of becoming a world-class military by 2049," he said, the Washington Examiner reported.
On Wednesday, Biden said China is "not bad" and is not competing with the U.S. The numbers on trade and China's recent military actions seem to a tell a different story, however
"I mean, you know, they're not bad folks, folks," Biden said. "But guess what, they're not competition for us."
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