Beijing experts have expressed fears after a potential candidate for Joe Biden’s Pentagon chief appointment claimed the US should be able to “sink all” Chinese vessels within 72 hours to increase deterrence. Michele Flournoy, formerly an under-secretary of defence in the Obama administration, has been floated as a potential pick for Defence Secretary under the President-elect. But Ms Flournoy has previously suggested American forces should be placed in the South China Sea to increase deterrence. The contested waters have been central to the US’s involvement in the Indo-Pacific, with President Donald Trump’s senior staffers and Chinese officials sparring over claims of “sovereignty” in the ocean. Dr Collin Koh, a research fellow from the RSIS also noted Ms Flournoy and the incoming-Biden administrations attitudes towards China were expected. He added: “Irrespective of who’s in the White House, the ability to sustain credible deterrence and if necessary, defeat [People’s Liberation Army] aggression against Taiwan in line with the Taiwan Relations Act, would have been seen as a given.”