US Marine Corps General: China Is Not a ‘Near Peer’ — ‘They Are a Peer in Every Domain’

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WASHINGTON — In a stark and unusually direct warning, a three-star U.S. Marine Corps general has declared that China is not merely a “near peer” competitor, but a genuine peer that rivals the United States in “nearly every single measure of national influence”—and that the U.S. has never had to operate against such a legitimate adversary in every military domain.

Lieutenant General Stephen Sklenka, Deputy Commandant for Installations and Logistics (I&L), made the remarks during a keynote address at the Modern Day Marine conference in Quantico, Virginia.

“There is no threat that looms larger than that of the People’s Republic of China. Don’t listen to this garbage about them being a near peer. They’re a peer because they rival us in nearly every single measure of national influence.”
— Lt. Gen. Stephen Sklenka, US Marine Corps

Sklenka did not limit China’s challenge to the military domain. He acknowledged the economic battleground as the first front. China’s manufacturing base now outproduces the U.S. in several key categories: shipbuilding (by an estimated 232 times over), drone manufacturing, and the production of advanced microchips .

The general shared a stark contrast: while the Marine Corps was flying missions over Iraq and Afghanistan for two decades, Beijing was “investing in a portfolio of precision munitions, anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) systems, space technology, and hypersonic missiles.”

Sklenka warned that China doesn’t just want to match the United States—it wants to supplant the United States. This language is far more direct than the Biden administration’s stated policy, which describes a “strategic competition” with Beijing. Sklenka argued that competition is a contest for global supremacy, not merely market share.

The general’s speech was also a sober assessment of the military’s current posture. He asked the assembled Marines: “Think about the difficulty we had against Iran—a nation that is not in our class in terms of technology—and then ask yourself about fighting a nation that’s number two in GDP?”

Sklenka’s implication is that the Iran war (which began with US-Israeli strikes on February 28) is a distraction from the main event. He noted that “none of us… have ever had to operate as a joint force against a legitimate peer in every domain, air, land, sea, space, and cyberspace.” This warning suggests that today’s leaders, trained on counterinsurgency, may not be prepared for the intensity and lethality of combat against China.

He called on industry to innovate faster, the Pentagon to fix its broken logistics, and Congress to fund readiness—not just new platforms. His remarks were likely timed to influence the upcoming Fiscal Year 2027 defense budget, which will be submitted to Congress next month.

China, for its part, has responded with a “dual-use” strategy, leveraging civilian shipyards and tech giants (Huawei, Alibaba) for military purposes. Chinese officials routinely dismiss U.S. warnings about a “pacing challenge,” calling such comments an attempt to justify excessive US military spending.

As the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps focus on enforcing a blockade in the Persian Gulf, China is quietly solidifying its position in the South China Sea, building airfields on disputed islands. Sklenka’s message to the Pentagon is clear: don’t let the current war cause you to lose sight of the larger, longer-term threat.

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