General Mark Milley, the top U.S. military officer, on Tuesday defended calls with China that have raised Republican demands for his resignation, saying he had been aiming to ease tension with Beijing and not to “usurp authority.”
The remarks were Milley’s first detailed defense of his actions since a book detailed what it described as “secret” calls with General Li Zuocheng of the People’s Liberation Army on Oct. 30, 2020 and again on Jan. 8.
