New US defense secretary unlikely to be his own man

MARK ESPER WAS SWORN in as the new US secretary of defense on Tuesday. In an article in Beijing News on Thursday, Diao Daming, a researcher in international politics at Renmin University of China, comments:

Patrick Shanahan, a veteran businessman from Boeing, was the acting secretary of defense, but Esper is more experienced in politics and military.

That Esper is a schoolmate of the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo means the two will have more tacit understanding with each other in the future decision-making process of the White House.