US finally looking more honestly at China's actions: Gen. James Mattis

Former Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis appeared on "Cavuto: Coast-to-Coast” Wednesday and drew a distinct comparison between the Obama and Trump administrations’ diplomatic approaches toward the People's Republic of China.

Mattis said the Trump administration has taken a more “honest” approach to China and how it treats its own citizens.

“Finally, America under this administration looks more honestly at what China's actions are saying,” he said on Tuesday.

On the contrary, Mattis said the Obama administration allowed China to make promises it knew couldn’t be kept.

“When [the] Chinese president promises in the Rose Garden to ... President Obama that they would not militarize the Spratly Islands and then they turn around and militarized the Spratly Islands, then we're going to have to recognize,” he said.

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“We don't believe in bullies and we don't believe in militarizing areas that we had freedom for all nations to travel through in the past,” he added.