CANBERRA, Australia — The U.S. Pacific Fleet commander says he would launch a nuclear strike against China next week if President Donald Trump ordered it and warned against the military ever shifting its allegiance from its commander in chief.

Adm. Scott Swift was addressing an Australian National University security conference Thursday following a major joint U.S.- Australian military exercise off the Australian coast. The drills were monitored by a Chinese intelligence-gathering ship off northeast Australia.

Asked by an academic in the audience whether he would make a nuclear attack on China next week if Trump ordered it, Swift replied: “The answer would be yes.”

Swift says if the military moves away from a focus and an allegiance to civilian control, “then we really have a significant problem.”