--- title: China Will Be Next Big Threat to U.S., General Dunford Says description: America's highest-ranked military official says China will pose a greater military threat to the U.S. than any other nation by 2025 canonical: https://time.com/4958679/general-dunford-military-threat/ author: Joseph Hincks article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-09-27T08:45:38.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T17:36:51.591Z article:section: Politics og:title: China Will Be Next Big Threat to U.S., General Dunford Says og:description: Though North Korea is still the most urgent og:url: https://time.com/4958679/general-dunford-military-threat/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt898be94a1fb4e0d4/6988df91fb4eacb0bd893e4a/gettyimages-842283950.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Defense Secretary Mattis Makes Statement On North Korea og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: China Will Be Next Big Threat to U.S., General Dunford Says twitter:description: Though North Korea is still the most urgent twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt898be94a1fb4e0d4/6988df91fb4eacb0bd893e4a/gettyimages-842283950.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here’s What a Top General Thinks Is the Next Big Threat to the U.S. > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Joseph Hincks](https://time.com/author/joseph-hincks/) ## Joseph Hincks Sep 27, 2017 8:45 AM UTC  Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford at the White House on Sept. 3, 2017. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford at the White House on Sept. 3, 2017. Chris Kleponis—Getty Images by [Joseph Hincks](https://time.com/author/joseph-hincks/) ## Joseph Hincks Sep 27, 2017 8:45 AM UTC China will pose a [greater military threat](http://edition.cnn.com/2017/09/26/politics/dunford-us-china-greatest-threat/index.html) to the U.S. than any other nation within the next decade, according to America’s highest-ranked military official, General Joseph Dunford. “I think China probably poses the greatest threat to our nation by about 2025,” Dunford told the Senate Armed Services Committee during a Tuesday [hearing](https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/hearings/17-09-26-nomination%5F--dunford) on his re-appointment as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, CNN reports. Dunford was responding to a question from Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono, who asked whether he stood by his 2015 assessment that Russia, followed by China and North Korea, posed the greatest threats to the U.S. in order of severity. He said, however that North Korea poses the most immediate threat to the U.S., “\[i\]n terms of the sense of urgency,” adding that Russia still presented the the greatest overall military threat on the basis of its nuclear, cyber, and electronic warfare capabilities and its regional interventions in Crimea and Ukraine. **Read more:** [_President Trump’s U.N. Speech Is Exactly What Kim Jong Un Wanted to Hear_](http://time.com/4949338/donald-trump-north-korea-un/) “\[But\] if I look out to 2025, and I look at the demographics and the economic situation, I think China probably poses the greatest threat,” he said, adding that the country is “focused on limiting our ability to project power and weakening our alliances in the Pacific.” Dunford’s comments come in advance of [Secretary of State Rex Tillerson](http://time.com/4883555/rex-tillerson-north-korea-dialogue/)‘s forthcoming visit to China, which begins Thursday, his second visit throughout his nine months in office. Reuters [reports](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-china-tillerson/tillerson-to-discuss-north-korea-crisis-trade-in-china-idUSKCN1C12TO?il=0) that Tillerson is expected to prioritize discussions about the escalating [North Korea crisis](http://time.com/4950248/a-way-forward-in-the-north-korea-crisis/) and lay the groundwork for President Donald Trump’s November visit. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4958679/general-dunford-military-threat/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4958679/general-dunford-military-threat/"},"headline":"Here’s What a Top General Thinks Is the Next Big Threat to the U.S.","datePublished":"2017-09-27T08:45:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T17:36:51.591Z","description":"China may soon surpass Russia as America's biggest military foe","url":"https://time.com/4958679/general-dunford-military-threat/","keywords":["China","Military","North Korea","Foreign Policy","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt898be94a1fb4e0d4/6988df91fb4eacb0bd893e4a/gettyimages-842283950.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Joseph Hincks","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/joseph-hincks/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt898be94a1fb4e0d4/6988df91fb4eacb0bd893e4a/gettyimages-842283950.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Defense Secretary Mattis Makes Statement On North Korea","caption":"Defense Secretary Mattis Makes Statement On North Korea","creditText":"Chris Kleponis—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/china/","name":"China"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4958679/general-dunford-military-threat/","name":"Here’s What a Top General Thinks Is the Next Big Threat to the U.S."}}]}] ```