U.S. General: China's Growing Presence in Americas a 'Pacing Challenge'

Shafaq News/ U.S. Southern Command chief Army Gen. Laura Richardson said China's growing presence in the Americas is a "pacing challenge" for the U.S. military.

In an exclusive interview with Newsweek, Richardson, who became only the second woman in history to be promoted to the rank of Army general in October 2021 and the third to lead a combatant command, said China is using its Belt and Road Initiative to invest in infrastructure across the region, and that the U.S. needs to offer competitive options.

"If you're picking a company that's under a communist government that doesn't honor the human rights of their own people, they're certainly not going to honor the ones of your people," Richardson told Newsweek. "And the backdoors into government networks, that becomes a challenge."

Richardson said China is also expanding its military presence in the region and that the U.S. needs to be prepared to counter that.

"With the largest military buildup in mainland China of conventional and nuclear forces in the last couple of decades," Richardson said, "you have to ask yourself, 'Why such the investment in critical infrastructure across the globe?'"

"What I worry about is the dual use flipping to the military application if needed," she added. "They've already got their hooks in the critical infrastructure and that's my biggest concern as a military commander and as SOUTHCOM commander."

Richardson said the U.S. is working to rally regional partners to join "Team USA" to "push forward the democratic agenda for a free, secure, prosperous Western Hemisphere."

"This is what it's all about," she said "We're trying to get after it as fast as we can and bring this economic investment to the beachhead."