President Trump’s administration will “confront and compete” with China throughout the Indo-Pacific region, a senior Pentagon official pledged Tuesday in a message directed the Communist regime’s leadership.

“We seek a positive, results-oriented military and security relationship with Beijing,” Randall Schriver, the assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs, told the American Enterprise Institute. “But Chairman Xi Jinping and the [Communist Party of China] need to understand that, while we seek cooperation where our interests align, we will confront and compete where we must.”