China is the Pentagon’s number one priority, and the US is watching Beijing ‘very carefully’ to insure America, US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said in an interview with Fox News. 

This is Esper’s first interview since he was appointed Pentagon chief in July.

Esper said that China has engaged in the “greatest theft of intellectual property in human history” and is also expanding its military to “push the United States out of [the Indo-Pacific] theater.”

"China is the number one priority for this department. It’s outlined in the National Defense Strategy, why we think it’s a long-term strategic competitor and one that is pursuing a maximization campaign, if you will, throughout the Indo-Pacific Theater, whether it’s politically, economically, or militarily. They are clearly professionalizing and expanding the capacity and capabilities of the military in order to push the United States out of that theater. They’ve studied us, and they’ve learned about how we employ weapons; they’ve learned about our doctrine. And so, that is something that we watch very carefully,” he said.