China, 1.3 billion people, an economy projected to become larger than ours in just a few years and a rapidly growing military.

How much trouble are we in?

Former White House National Security Advisor, HR McMaster and former White House Deputy Security Advisor, Matt Pottenger, on Uncommon Knowledge, now.

Welcome to Uncommon Knowledge, I'm Peter Robinson. Herbert Raymond McMaster graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1984 and later earned a doctorate in American history from the University of North Carolina, where he wrote a thesis on the performance of the American military leadership during the Vietnam War that became a best-selling book, dereliction of duty.

General McMaster served in the Army for more than three decades, including a year and a half as President Trump's National Security Advisor. In 2018, he retired from the Army with a rank of Lieutenant General, becoming a fellow at the Hoover Institution.

Last year General McMaster published Battlegrounds, the fight to defend the free world.

After graduating from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst with a degree in Chinese studies, Matthew Pottenger first devoted himself to journalism, working for Reuters and the Wall Street Journal, and spending some seven years reporting from China.

In 2004, he joined the Marine Corps, where he served as an intelligence officer in Iraq and Afghanistan. After leaving active duty, he worked for a time in finance on Wall Street.

In 2017, he joined the Trump administration, where he served on the staff of the National Security Council first as Asia Director, serving under HR McMaster, then as Deputy National Security Advisor.

Matthew Pottenger is now also a fellow at the Hoover Institution, HR and Matt, welcome. It's great to be here.

Great to be with two great friends.

Thanks.

Two quotations, gentlemen.

Here's the first is from the late Hoover Fellow, policy analyst, economist Harry Rowan.

I've been Hoover at Hoover long enough to have known Harry. I don't think either of you met him, but this is Harry writing in 1996.

Quote, when will China become a democracy? The answer is around the year 2015.

This prediction is based on China's steady and impressive economic growth, which in turn fits the pattern of the way in which freedom has grown in Asia and elsewhere in the world.

Close quote.

That sounds almost reasonable now, but that was a serious point in 1996.

Here's the second quotation.

President Xi Jinping of China, and since he has eliminated term limits, we should call him perhaps president for life Xi Jinping of China.

Quote, there are people who believe that communism is an unattainable hope, but facts have repeatedly told us that Marx and Engels analysis is not outdated.

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