Former U.S. Pacific Army Commander General Charles Flynn revealed in an interview with American media this week that during his tenure, he discovered multiple infiltration operations involving Chinese citizens at U.S. military bases in Alaska. These actions not only involved physical trespassing but also extended to cyberspace, economic supply chains, and social security, posing the most pressing national security threat.
General Flynn recollected that shortly after taking over as the Pacific Army Commander in 2021, he inspected the Alaska forces. After receiving intelligence briefings, he was shocked by the extent of infiltration at the bases.
He pointed out that several incidents involved Chinese citizens in the U.S. attempting to enter facilities through the gates or successfully infiltrating them. “These people come to the gate, and some even get inside the facilities, and when we checked, we found cameras and drones hidden in their car trunks,” Flynn told the Los Angeles Times.
In addition to ground facilities, drones frequently appeared around training areas. Flynn specifically mentioned the Donnelly and Yukon training areas as strategically significant land and airspace training grounds that are closely monitored by China and Russia.
Regarding Chinese intelligence activities within the U.S., Flynn cited data indicating that there are currently over 325,000 Chinese students studying in the U.S. He stated, “Imagine if 25% or 30% of them are actual spies, what would that scenario look like?”
Flynn believes that many Chinese citizens in the U.S. are subject to some form of control by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as they can apply pressure on their families in China. He emphasized that this spy network combined with information warfare aims to undermine public trust in the system and pose a “composite impact” on U.S. sovereignty.
Addressing the security threat posed by the CCP to the U.S., the retired four-star general pointed out that China’s recent cyber actions are not isolated incidents but rather preparations for potential future military conflicts.
He cited examples of “Salt Typhoon” and “Volt Typhoon,” where the former involves cyber reconnaissance to understand the consequences of U.S. military deployments, while the latter targets telecom systems, metadata, and communication content.
Flynn believes these actions reflect China’s preparations for a potential conflict, disrupting, delaying, deterring, and confusing U.S. actions in crisis situations, thereby weakening the U.S.’ ability to project power into the Western Pacific and support regional allies.
Flynn bluntly stated that in the event of a conflict in the Taiwan Strait, the U.S. would have to cross about 8,000 miles while China is only about 100 miles away from Taiwan, presenting key challenges such as logistical supply, sustained deployment, forward presence, and command control.
He emphasized the need for the U.S. to shorten response time differences and maintain forward deployments to prevent any interference from the cyber and space domains that could further hinder U.S. military decision-making and intervention capabilities.
In addition to traditional military threats, Flynn also pointed to the fentanyl issue and supply chain crisis. He accused China of intentionally exporting fentanyl precursors to harm the younger generation in the U.S., highlighting that annual deaths related to fentanyl exceed 100,000, surpassing casualties from a decade of war.
In the economic field, Flynn warned about fractures in critical mineral processing stages in the U.S. He noted that the U.S. has abundant mineral resources but gradually withdrew from key processing steps, leading to China controlling approximately 80% to 90% of the world’s refined mineral production capacity.
“We cannot control our end-to-end supply chain unless we rebuild this processing capacity within the U.S.,” he stated, emphasizing that this directly affects the production of F-35 aircraft, electric vehicles, and semiconductors.
Despite the severe threats, Flynn believes that with “hard power” and “strategic unpredictability,” global deterrence can be effectively rebuilt.
He stated that instilling doubt and fear in opponents is crucial for deterrence. “Implanting doubt in the opponent’s mind and increasing their fear is an essential element of deterrence,” Flynn said. “No one should underestimate the killing power, range, and endurance of the U.S. military.”
He stressed the advantage the U.S. holds in its network of allies, a capability that China lacks. Through the joint efforts of the entire government and resolute military will, the U.S. can continue to stabilize security in the Western Hemisphere and support its global partners.