Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he is "genuinely concerned" about China's increasing military ambitions and "the gap... forming between China's stated intent and its military programs." He gave his speech at the Asia Society Washington 2010 Awards Dinner on June 9, 2010, where he received the Public Policy Award on behalf of America's two million armed forces.
The Admiral also expressed his disappointment over the recent rejection by China of an invitation by the US for military-to-military contact, since such collaborations offer the opportunity to "listen and to learn from and about each other."
Saying the recent sinking of a South Korean naval ship by North Korea was an "egregious breach of the fragile peace on that peninsula," Mullen called on Beijing and the international community to take a tougher stand on the issue.