Responding to a question at a regular press conference Wednesday about whether the Pentagon has evidence of genocide in Xinjiang, U.S. Defense Department spokesman John Kirby said he could not release intelligence information, but that the Pentagon supports the State Department’s assessment. “The Department of Defense supports the State Department’s assessment of what happened to the Uighurs, and we recommend that you seek comment from the State Department,” he said.
In response to a reporter’s question noting that the Defense Department cited China as one of the biggest challenges in its global military deployment plan and whether that would lead to an increased U.S. military presence in the Asia-Pacific region, Kirby said the United States will continue to maintain its security commitment to its allies.
Kirby said, “We will continue to maintain our security commitment to our allies and partners by continuing to deploy rotating military forces in the region and beyond, like the aircraft carriers we talked about last week .”
In response to a reporter’s question about Russian and Chinese military operations in the Middle East, Kirby said China poses a growing global challenge to the United States and the United States will ensure that national interests are not compromised.
Kirby said, “You heard the secretary’s remarks on the current defense strategy and his endorsement of the core elements of the current defense strategy, which is that China poses a challenge to the United States and to global acceleration, not just in the Middle East. Russia is also trying to expand, often taking certain actions that are not only detrimental to our national interests, but also to the interests of the international community and numerous other countries. He talks about this global deployment plan to see if we have enough resources and perform the right tasks to confirm that we deal with challengers and protect our country and our national interests.”
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