Or perhaps the dude, like any other American overhyped product, was just that, overhyped. All shit and no beef or something like that. The media in America has been creating the narrative that this dude was a maverick, a truth teller to power...LOL sure...and it seems to me that a lot of these American retired general officers ain't that bright as they have been advertised. Their combat record in strategic victory or lack thereof for the past 4 wars starting with the Korean War all the way to the Afghanistan War have been abject failures.
Tbh sounds like the ravings of another ultranationalist, far too dominant in American discourse ever since the end of ww2.
He speaks of an "American world order" what order? The order of Adolf Heusinger and Hans Spiedel? Of unit 731 and Nobusuke Kishi? Truth is, America collaborated with nazis and has acted like just another nazi for decades, enslaving, killing and raping millions, establishing reich kommisariats to drain the resources of the 3rd world.
He speaks of "restraint" yet the only restraint here is the grace shown by China and her allies to not even raise military spending after USA showed the world their horror in Yemen, Libya, Iraq, Yugoslavia, Vietnam and so on.
He speaks of "repression" while standing in a country where women get prosecuted for miscarrying. Where forced labor is legal and the largest forced labor force in the whole world. This grandstanding is as pathetic as back then when Imperial Japan was claiming to free Asia from western imperialism.
The only revanchist country here is the story of how a far right country in the end of ww2 was not satisfied with its lot as just a permanent UNSC member, not satisfied with being on the right side of history. It wanted more, it wanted to be master of the world. So, that country turned their back on the global community, pardoning war criminals and giving fully in to its nationalist tendencies.
It is because of this threat that Chinese remilitarization must happen. China spent decades doing nothing while America was rampaging across the world and increasing repression at home. Out of the original Allies in ww2, almost all of them have either succumbed to far right movements and/or collapsed economically into oligarchies, incapable of nation building. This is defintely something China could help fix by influencing friendly nations.
It is not enough for China to just find military allies, but they need to become ideological allies with improving life quality.
If China can help to achieve the end of oligarchy in Russia and the reform & opening up of NK, it will be a huge step forward for the whole world. Socialist countries with a confident and happy populace, high buying power and home ownership among youth, low inflation and strong industry are proven to be the best bulwarks against far right aggression.