This is CBS I'm the world. I'm John Bassett with Colonel Jeff McCawson, CBS News,

US Army retired artillery men, a visiting professor Dickinson College CEO of Diamond

Six Leadership and Strategy. The effort right now is to focus on Ukraine and the driving

of the Russians out of the invasion part of the state. But we have a similar and daunting

story in East Asia, Western Pacific with the continued threats by the Chinese Communist

Party's leadership. Most recently, during Secretary Blinken's visit, the first visit

by the Secretary of State in five years, when Wang Yi, the chief diplomat, that is

the man who insults America routinely, said that Taiwan is the core of cores of the concerns

for the people's Republic of China, meaning we're going to get it back as a rogue province.

Jeff, the puzzle here is the US and a two front war or two front preparation for war.

The US Navy is the first line of defense. But what is your measure of Washington now

as it hit the alarm bell as it did not before Ukraine conflict? Is it preparing the infrastructure,

the manufacturing base to get the weapons out there quickly?

I think it definitely hit the alarm bell. And that alarm bell went off initially about

a year ago when Miss Pelosi didn't speak to the House of Business in Taiwan. And we saw

dramatic Chinese military reaction in terms of massive exercises around the island.

That was followed by the infamous balloon controversy as a Chinese balloon flew across the

United States. Then in more recent days, we've seen incidents where Chinese fighter buzzed

the US reconnaissance aircraft and not unlike the event back in 2001 that resulted in the

crashing of a Chinese fighter and a forcing down of an American reconnaissance plane on

the island. We forget that was the first great crisis for the George W. Bush administration.

And finally, a Chinese destroyer cutting in front of a US destroyer, transiting international

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