In an exclusive interview with CBS News, General John Hyten, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the No. 2 person in the U.S. military, revealed new details of last summer's Chinese hypersonic weapons test, which sent a missile around the world at more than five times the speed of sound.
"They launched a long-range missile," Hyten told CBS News. "It went around the world, dropped off a hypersonic glide vehicle that glided all the way back to China, that impacted a target in China." Asked if it hit the target, Hyten replied,
Beijing's South China Sea position is entrenched for now, but Thomas said the US must challenge it over Taiwan.
"I know that the gorilla in the room is launching missiles over Taiwan," Thomas said. "If we just allow that to happen, and we don't contest that, that'll become the next norm. And that's that's not acceptable."