Mr Bannon's comments on his radio show are re-surfacing as the 'special counsellor' assumes unprecedented power in the White House
Donald Trump's closest advisor thinks that the US will be at war with China in the next few years.
The far-right figure, who has been given unprecedented power in the White House and has suggested in the past that he supports white supremacy, suggested that the two countries are headed towards war over the South China Sea.
“We’re going to war in the South China Sea in five to 10 years, aren’t we?” Mr Bannon said on his radio show in March 2016. “There’s no doubt about that. They’re taking their sandbars and making basically stationary aircraft carriers and putting missiles on those. They come here to the United States in front of our face — and you understand how important face is — and say it’s an ancient territorial sea.”
The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued
Trump and abortion
Protesters flood Independence Avenue during the Women's March GettyTrump and abortion
US President Donald Trump signs an executive order as Chief of Staff Reince Priebus looks on in the Oval Office of the White House Getty ImagesTrump and 'Obamacare'
Nancy Pelosi who is the minority leader of the House of Representatives speaks beside House Democrats at an event to protect the Affordable Care Act in Los Angeles, California. The Republican-led US Senate has launched their much-anticipated effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act by passing a budget blueprint which would allow them to begin rolling back the health care reforms Getty ImagesTrump and the Dakota Access pipeline
Opponents of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines hold a rally as they protest US President Donald Trump's executive orders advancing their construction, at Columbus Circle in New York. US President Donald Trump signed executive orders reviving the construction of two controversial oil pipelines, but said the projects would be subject to renegotiation Getty ImagesTrump and the Dakota Access pipeline
US actress and political activist Jane Fonda attends a rally with opponents of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines as they protest US President Donald Trump's executive orders advancing their construction, at Columbus Circle in New York Getty ImagesTrump and the Trans-Pacific Partnership
Union leaders applaud US President Donald Trump for signing an executive order withdrawing the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations during a meeting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington DC GettyTrump and the Mexico wall
People protest against US President Donald Trump's inauguration next to a fake wall with a Mexican national flag and a dummy representing him in Mexico City Getty ImagesTrump and the media
White House spokesman Sean Spicer arrives to speak at the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington DC Getty ImagesTrump and the media
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer takes questions during the daily press briefing Getty ImagesTrump and the Mexico wall
A US Border Patrol vehicle sits waiting for illegal immigrants at a fence opening near the US-Mexico border near McAllen, Texas. The number of incoming immigrants has surged ahead of the upcoming Presidential inauguration of Donald Trump, who has pledged to build a wall along the US-Mexico border Getty ImagesTensions between the China and the US and Japan, as well as other countries, have increased in recent years over a dispute about who exactly owns the part of the Pacific Ocean. China has been asserting its ownership of the sea by building huge islands in it on which it has put military installations.
Since Donald Trump's election, and the anti-Chinese rhetoric that marked the campaign that preceded it, the relationship between China and the US has become increasingly fraught.
Last week a senior Chinese military official said that war with the US is "not just a slogan" and that it was becoming a "practical reality". The same official called for increased military deployments in the East and South China Seas to guard the area, according to the South China Morning Post.
Mr Bannon's views are coming under increased scrutiny as he ascends to power within the White House. Over the weekend it emerged that Mr Bannon had been appointed to a committee on which only senior generals usually sit – a move that journalist Michael Moore seemed to suggest a coup was underway.
The ex-head of Breitbart has in the past likened himself to Lenin, for instance. The Russian leader "wanted to destroy the state, and that’s my goal too. I want to bring everything crashing down, and destroy all of today’s establishment," he told a reporter from The Daily Beast.