Over the past decade, General Charles Flynn has been contemplating the threat posed by the Chinese Communist regime to the United States.
In November 2024, General Flynn retired from his position as Commander of the U.S. Army Pacific Command; prior to that, he had served as the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army G-3/5/7 and later as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations of the Army.
General Flynn’s experience in the Indo-Pacific region began in 2014 when he took charge of the 25th Infantry Division stationed in Hawaii.
A decade ago, few Americans paid as much attention to the threat of the Chinese regime to the free world as they do today, as General Flynn had spent 14 years focusing on Middle Eastern issues.
“I knew everything about situations in Kabul, Kandahar, Kunduz in Afghanistan, and Baghdad in Iraq, but I had not paid any attention to China in the Indo-Pacific region,” General Flynn said in an interview with Epoch Times host Jan Jekielek.
Prior to serving as the Commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, General Charles Flynn’s brother, the now retired General Michael Flynn, invited him to the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency to understand the threats America faced in the Indo-Pacific region.
While stuck in traffic on his way back to Fort Bragg in North Carolina one day, General Flynn realized there was much he needed to learn. Fort Bragg is the headquarters of the U.S. Army Forces Command.
General Flynn’s realization that day continues to inspire him to pursue his mission.
“The trajectory of this century will be defined by the relationship between the United States and China,” he said.
“The key period for when the Chinese military completes its modernization, organizational reform, and technological innovations is only a decade away. We cannot wait any longer. Our biggest problem right now is speed. We must urgently address the actions China is taking in the Asia-Pacific region.”
The U.S. has security obligations in the Indo-Pacific region extending to Guam and has treaty allies in the First Island Chain. Therefore, the U.S. has both security obligations and national interests in the Indo-Pacific region, while China has been aggressively expanding its influence in the region.
In 2014, as General Flynn shifted his focus to the Pacific, China was ramping up construction on disputed islands in the South China Sea.
“We told them not to build islands, but they did. We told them not to militarize and arm those islands, but they did. We told them not to station troops on those islands, but they did it anyway,” General Flynn said.
“This is why I say that China has been adopting a gradual, covert, and irresponsible way to create conditions for itself to gain regional dominance because they have global domination ambitions.”
General Flynn believes that these islands are not just a manifestation of China’s malicious behavior. China claims that these constructions are for non-military purposes, but satellite images show otherwise.
“As an army man, I can see the landscapes being reconfigured, artificially creating some terrain. What is the purpose of doing this? To cut off the superhighways crossing the South China Sea,” he said.
General Flynn emphasized that besides military advantages, the Indo-Pacific region would have major economic implications if chaos were to break out. The region is rich in energy and mineral resources, is home to 125 million fishing rights holders, and is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.
For years, the U.S. has asserted that the Indo-Pacific region is its priority theater, but General Flynn and others told The Epoch Times that American allies do not always see our actions aligning with our purported priorities.
In 2022, on the same day the U.S. approved a $33 billion aid plan for Ukraine, General Flynn met with defense ministers, army chiefs of staff, and defense ministers of the ASEAN countries. These defense officials candidly expressed their concerns, believing that the plan would divert U.S. attention from the Indo-Pacific region.
“They asked, ‘Are you serious? … What happens next? Will you stay here?’ ” he said.
“I think at the time, the point they made really stuck with me. I think if we don’t signal to treaty allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific region our intentions, America’s credibility in the region will be damaged, and that is the last thing we can afford right now.”
General Flynn has been working to “unify the Army leadership in this region” during the remaining time in his role as the U.S. Army Pacific Commander.
The government led by President Donald Trump has issued a new edition of the National Security Strategy in 2025, clearly focusing America’s efforts on the Western Hemisphere. Regarding the Indo-Pacific region, General Flynn believes the strategy correctly defines each country’s interests in defending its sovereignty.
The new strategy calls for enhanced cooperation with partners in the Indo-Pacific region to strengthen deterrence as an economic imperative.
“Our government will help those nations who help themselves,” General Flynn noted, indicating that the U.S. government expects allies to increase their defense spending. “They will want you to put some money on the table. Why? It’s an investment in your own defense, in protecting your territorial integrity and national sovereignty. Furthermore, these countries’ security in the Indo-Pacific region depends heavily on the army, just like China does.”
General Flynn often emphasizes the need to pay more attention to the Army in the Indo-Pacific region.
He said that in Washington, it can sometimes be difficult to make this argument because most people look at the map of the Indo-Pacific region and “see blue.”
He said people mistakenly think the Indo-Pacific region is a naval or air domain.
“This is a battlefield for multinational coalition operations, which can only be resolved through joint actions across all domains by various countries,” General Flynn said.
He mentioned how China acquires telecommunication companies near U.S. military bases or buys local media companies to publish articles critical of the U.S., attempting to influence populations, providing essential on-the-ground intelligence.
General Flynn pointed out that the militaries in most Asian countries are army-centric, meaning they can collaborate well with the U.S. Army.
“80% of the Indian military is army; Indonesia is 75%; Thailand is 75%; Vietnam is 80%. The Philippine military is 70% army; it has more divisional units than the U.S. Army,” he said.
Having spent 10 years in the region, General Flynn sought to establish a strategic network of land forces to counter China’s expansion. He also noted how some of these forces began to be “strengthened” in new ways later in that period.
“These countries do not want to rely entirely on America’s security umbrella. They want to be able to bolster their own security capabilities with U.S. assistance and have confidence in the U.S. in times of trouble. But they do want to have a partnership with us,” he said.
According to the new National Security Strategy, the U.S. offers technological advantages and training, which he observed aligning with the on-the-ground realities.
Last year, the U.S. delivered a new weapon to the Philippine Special Forces: a medium-range land-based missile. A Special Forces unit landed on the northernmost part of the Philippine Islands at night, unloaded and deployed the missile.
Within a day, China issued a statement attempting to intimidate the Philippines, implying that the Philippines was becoming a tool of the U.S.
“How did the Philippines respond to China? They immediately countered, ‘We will train, we will advertise, we will protect our people in any way we choose,'” General Flynn said.
He noted that the Philippines defended its sovereignty, and he also cited similar actions taken by Japan recently.
General Flynn stated that the U.S. has military superiority over China in terms of land forces, with China designing an anti-access/area denial arsenal aiming to defeat U.S. air and sea power and weaken, prevent, and disrupt U.S. space and network capabilities.
“The real threat posed by China’s land forces is not just about preventing, destroying, and eliminating dispersed, mobile, and redeployable networked land forces in the Indo-Pacific region,” General Flynn said.
Chinese intrusions in the sea and airspace are occurring “at a staggering pace” every day, causing concerns for regional players like the U.S., Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and others.
“I mean, if we increase our monitoring of China’s land forces that could provide critical warning information to national command authorities. China cannot take Taiwan purely by naval and air invasion… but once they start moving their land forces, that’s a problem,” he explained.
General Flynn added that to strengthen military and partner relations, his vision is not to increase U.S. military bases but to “deploy more personnel in more locations while reducing the number of bases.”
“This means we will initiate dynamic rotational deployments and increase multinational joint exercises in the Indo-Pacific region,” he explained.
Stressing that history shows that wars initially arise from prolonged regional conflicts lasting a decade, General Flynn emphasized that “we cannot tolerate a questioning of our deterrent power in the Indo-Pacific region.”
“I can say that the two regional conflicts we are experiencing today are because our deterrent power has failed… if another one is added, we will face a global war,” he stated.
General Flynn recently visited a magnet company where he saw five cans containing different magnet processing stages.
“He said, ‘This is what we produce.’ I asked him, ‘What are these five Mason jars filled with?'” General Flynn shared. “He walks over to the third jar and said, ‘Well, about half of this and all of that are downstream products of the magnet production process.'”
“Not magnets that go on fridges but magnets to be installed in F-35 fighter jets, precision-guided weapons, or supercomputers,” General Flynn said. “So, I clearly understand that if we can’t regain control of the end of our supply chain, it will be a massive vulnerability for the United States.”
General Flynn expressed the critical importance of velocity in safeguarding key strategic supply chains, citing several reasons.
Firstly, China has demonstrated its intent to weaponize supply chains. Secondly, reshoring manufacturing takes time; constructing factories and conducting trials on proprietary technology not yet possessed by the U.S. are necessary. Thirdly, according to General Flynn, 60% of the industry’s workforce will be retiring by 2030.
Therefore, General Flynn proposed another military-related solution focused on safeguarding critical strategic supply chains.
“We have a large number of soldiers who serve – sailors, airmen, Marines, Space Force personnel – they serve in uniform for three, five, six years, and then they retire. They possess leadership qualities and receive good education,” he said.
“So why not bring these people over, tell them, ‘Hey, we’ll pay 90% of your tuition so you can get into the trades?'” he suggested.
General Flynn expressed confidence in the innovative nature within America’s genes but emphasized that releasing this quality required establishing a talent development system.
“Our equipment may be cutting-edge, our technology may be cutting-edge, but we still need people to do things that only humans can do in a mechanical way,” he explained.
“Furthermore, we need human cognitive, agile thinking to innovate, create, and build novel unique things, finding opportunities that may not have been visible before.”