U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Saturday assured allies in the Indo-Pacific that they will not stand alone in the face of growing military and economic pressure from China, while insisting that they also contribute more to their own defense.
He said Washington would strengthen its defenses abroad to counter what the Pentagon sees as rapidly growing threats from Beijing, particularly its aggressive stance toward Taiwan.
China has conducted multiple exercises to test what it would look like to blockade the self-ruled island, which Beijing claims as its own and the United States has pledged to protect.
The Chinese military is “rehearsing real action,” Mr. Hegseth said in a keynote speech at a security conference in Singapore.
“We're not going to sugarcoat it — the threat China poses is real. And it may be inevitable.”
China has set a goal of 2027 to give its military the ability to seize Taiwan by force if necessary, a timeline that experts see as more of an ambitious goal than a hard deadline for waging war.
But China has also built sophisticated artificial islands in the South China Sea to support new military bases and developed high-tech hypersonic and space capabilities, pushing the US to build its own space-based Golden Dome missile defense system.
Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue global security conference organised by the International Institute for Security Studies, Mr Hegseth said China was no longer just building up its military to seize Taiwan but was “actively training for it every day”.
Mr Hegseth also criticised China for its ambitions in Latin America, particularly its efforts to increase its influence over the Panama Canal.
He called on countries in the region to increase their defence spending to a level comparable to the 5% of their gross domestic product that European countries are currently forced to contribute.
“We all have to do our part,” Mr. Hegseth said.
He also repeated a pledge made by previous administrations to strengthen U.S. military capabilities in the Indo-Pacific region to provide more credible deterrence.
While the Obama and Biden administrations also committed to turning their forces toward the Pacific and entered into new military agreements across the region, the full transition never materialized.
Instead, US military resources from the Indo-Pacific region have been regularly diverted to support military needs in the Middle East and Europe, especially following the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
The same thing was seen in the first few months of President Donald Trump's second term.
Over the past few months, the Trump administration has pulled a Patriot missile defense battalion out of the Indo-Pacific to deploy to the Middle East, a massive logistical operation that has required more than 73 military transport flights and sent Coast Guard ships back to the U.S. to help secure the U.S.-Mexico border.
Mr Hegseth was asked why the US had seized these resources if the Indo-Pacific region is a priority region for the US.
He did not give a direct answer, but said the redistribution of resources was necessary to protect against Houthi missile attacks from Yemen and to strengthen protections against illegal immigration into the United States.
At the same time, he stressed the need for American allies and partners to increase their own defense spending and training, saying the United States has no interest in going it alone.
“Ultimately, our key strategic advantage is a strong, decisive and capable network of allies and partners,” he said.
“China is envious of what we have and sees what we can collectively do for defence, but we all have to ensure that we realise that potential through investment.”
The Indo-Pacific countries caught between them have for years struggled to find a balance in their relations with both the US and China.
For many, Beijing is a major trading partner, but it is also feared as a regional tyrant, partly because of its increasingly aggressive claims to natural resources such as critical fisheries.
Mr Hegseth warned that playing both sides by seeking US military support and Chinese economic support was risky.
“Economic dependence on China only increases its malign influence and complicates our defense decision-making space in times of tension,” Mr. Hegseth said.
China usually sends its defense minister to the conference, but Dong Jun did not attend this year, in a show of disdain for the United States and the unpredictable tariff war Mr. Trump has waged with Beijing. The American delegation says it intends to take advantage of that.
“We're here this morning. Some people aren't here yet,” Mr. Hegseth said.
Mr Hegseth was asked by a member of the Chinese delegation, made up of junior officers from the National Defence University, how committed it would be to regional alliances, in some of which China has a more dominant influence.
Mr. Hegseth said the United States would be open to engaging with any country willing to work with it.
“We're not going to look just within the framework of how previous administrations looked at this region,” he said.
“We open our arms to countries across the spectrum – traditional allies, non-traditional allies.”
Mr Hegseth said US support for Indo-Pacific countries would not require local governments to fall in line with the West on culture or climate issues.
It is unclear whether the US can or wants to displace China as the region’s main economic engine. But Mr Hegseth’s push follows Mr Trump’s visit to the Middle East, which has led to billions of dollars in new defence deals.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
