US Defence Secretary warns allies over looming China threat
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has used a security summit in Singapore to warn allies over the looming threat of China in the region.
In a stark message to the Shangri-La Dialogue, Mr Hegseth told Indo-Pacific counterparts there are increasing military and economic pressures being exerted by China.
Defence Minister Richard Marles urged other Indo-Pacific Leaders to do their part in deterring China moving forward.
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Perth Now
28 minutes ago
- Perth Now
US wants Aust to up defence spending to 3.5 per cent
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth asked Australia to increase its defence spending to 3.5 per cent of gross domestic product during a meeting with Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles, the Pentagon said. The defence chiefs also discussed security issues on Sunday, including accelerating US defence capabilities in Australia, advancing defence industrial base cooperation and creating supply chain resilience, the defence department said in a statement. "On defence spending, Secretary Hegseth conveyed that Australia should increase its defence spending to 3.5 per cent of its GDP as soon as possible," the statement said. The ministers' meeting on Friday on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia's premier security forum, is only the second between the security allies since US President Donald Trump took office in January. Marles said after the meeting they did not discuss a specific percentage of GDP to raise Australian defence spending.
The Advertiser
9 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Australia will determine its own defence policy: PM
Australia will determine its own defence policy in the face of mounting US pressure on countries in the Indo-Pacific to ramp up spending against what the superpower says is a real and imminent threat from China. Addressing Asia's top security summit in Singapore on Saturday, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called on his nation's allies in the region to share the burden of deterrence by upgrading their own defences. "There's no reason to sugar coat it," he told the Shangri-La Dialogue. "The threat China poses is real, and it could be imminent." Responding to the remarks, Mr Albanese pointed to extra defence spending his government has already committed to. "We'll determine our defence policy, and we've invested just across (the next four years) an additional $10 billion in defence," he told reporters in Hobart on Sunday. "What we'll do is continue to provide for investing in our capability but also investing in our relationships in the region." Defence spending will rise to about 2.3 per cent of GDP within the decade, from the two per cent it currently hovers at. In Singapore at the summit, Defence Minister Richard Marles said the lift represented the "single biggest peacetime increase in defence expenditure in Australia's history". "So we are beginning this journey," he said. "We've got runs on the board." Mr Hegseth said Beijing's military action around Taiwan was "rehearsing for the real deal" in relation to an invasion of the island. Mr Albanese said Australia's position on Taiwan was "very clear" and included a bipartisan stance to support the status quo. China views Taiwan as its own territory, and slammed the US as the biggest "troublemaker for regional peace and stability". Australia will determine its own defence policy in the face of mounting US pressure on countries in the Indo-Pacific to ramp up spending against what the superpower says is a real and imminent threat from China. Addressing Asia's top security summit in Singapore on Saturday, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called on his nation's allies in the region to share the burden of deterrence by upgrading their own defences. "There's no reason to sugar coat it," he told the Shangri-La Dialogue. "The threat China poses is real, and it could be imminent." Responding to the remarks, Mr Albanese pointed to extra defence spending his government has already committed to. "We'll determine our defence policy, and we've invested just across (the next four years) an additional $10 billion in defence," he told reporters in Hobart on Sunday. "What we'll do is continue to provide for investing in our capability but also investing in our relationships in the region." Defence spending will rise to about 2.3 per cent of GDP within the decade, from the two per cent it currently hovers at. In Singapore at the summit, Defence Minister Richard Marles said the lift represented the "single biggest peacetime increase in defence expenditure in Australia's history". "So we are beginning this journey," he said. "We've got runs on the board." Mr Hegseth said Beijing's military action around Taiwan was "rehearsing for the real deal" in relation to an invasion of the island. Mr Albanese said Australia's position on Taiwan was "very clear" and included a bipartisan stance to support the status quo. China views Taiwan as its own territory, and slammed the US as the biggest "troublemaker for regional peace and stability". Australia will determine its own defence policy in the face of mounting US pressure on countries in the Indo-Pacific to ramp up spending against what the superpower says is a real and imminent threat from China. Addressing Asia's top security summit in Singapore on Saturday, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called on his nation's allies in the region to share the burden of deterrence by upgrading their own defences. "There's no reason to sugar coat it," he told the Shangri-La Dialogue. "The threat China poses is real, and it could be imminent." Responding to the remarks, Mr Albanese pointed to extra defence spending his government has already committed to. "We'll determine our defence policy, and we've invested just across (the next four years) an additional $10 billion in defence," he told reporters in Hobart on Sunday. "What we'll do is continue to provide for investing in our capability but also investing in our relationships in the region." Defence spending will rise to about 2.3 per cent of GDP within the decade, from the two per cent it currently hovers at. In Singapore at the summit, Defence Minister Richard Marles said the lift represented the "single biggest peacetime increase in defence expenditure in Australia's history". "So we are beginning this journey," he said. "We've got runs on the board." Mr Hegseth said Beijing's military action around Taiwan was "rehearsing for the real deal" in relation to an invasion of the island. Mr Albanese said Australia's position on Taiwan was "very clear" and included a bipartisan stance to support the status quo. China views Taiwan as its own territory, and slammed the US as the biggest "troublemaker for regional peace and stability". Australia will determine its own defence policy in the face of mounting US pressure on countries in the Indo-Pacific to ramp up spending against what the superpower says is a real and imminent threat from China. Addressing Asia's top security summit in Singapore on Saturday, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called on his nation's allies in the region to share the burden of deterrence by upgrading their own defences. "There's no reason to sugar coat it," he told the Shangri-La Dialogue. "The threat China poses is real, and it could be imminent." Responding to the remarks, Mr Albanese pointed to extra defence spending his government has already committed to. "We'll determine our defence policy, and we've invested just across (the next four years) an additional $10 billion in defence," he told reporters in Hobart on Sunday. "What we'll do is continue to provide for investing in our capability but also investing in our relationships in the region." Defence spending will rise to about 2.3 per cent of GDP within the decade, from the two per cent it currently hovers at. In Singapore at the summit, Defence Minister Richard Marles said the lift represented the "single biggest peacetime increase in defence expenditure in Australia's history". "So we are beginning this journey," he said. "We've got runs on the board." Mr Hegseth said Beijing's military action around Taiwan was "rehearsing for the real deal" in relation to an invasion of the island. Mr Albanese said Australia's position on Taiwan was "very clear" and included a bipartisan stance to support the status quo. China views Taiwan as its own territory, and slammed the US as the biggest "troublemaker for regional peace and stability".
The Age
9 hours ago
- The Age
Australia would be wise to tread very carefully
To submit a letter to The Age, email letters@ Please include your home address and telephone number below your letter. No attachments. See here for our rules and tips on getting your letter published. AMERICAN ALLIES I read with horror the report, 'Marles backs Hegseth speech' (1/6). Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth claims: 'We (the United States) are prepared to do what the Department of Defence does best, to fight and win decisively.″ As far as I recall, the opposite applies. Has he forgotten Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan? And what about Korea? Australia must tread very carefully when dealing with the US. America will do nothing that is not in its own best interests. To my knowledge, Australia (under the Morrison government) is the only country to have publicly stated that it will join America in war with China over Taiwan. If such a war occurs, China will never attack sovereign American territory. Not so for Australia. In fact, the first targets to be taken out will be the American communication bases. If Defence Minister Richard Marles thinks that by supporting Hegseth, we will get a better trade deal, I question his judgment. Jim Lamborn, Doncaster Trump's US must not dictate our defence policy It was disappointing to read of Defence Minister Richard Marles' sycophantic response to US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth's bellicose stance on China and his push for Australia to increase our defence expenditure. The ALP must stand by its election promise to maintain our strategic relationship with an unreliable Trumpian America while simultaneously fostering our still-recovering rapprochement with China in a way fully consistent with our national interest. It would be intolerable to have Donald Trump's unstable America dictating our defence policy. We must make it clear to Trump that Australia can only guarantee our strategic support when the US proves itself again a reliable ally. Terry Hewton, Henley Beach South, SA We need an independent defence minister Seeking to distract from his country's rapidly increasing disarray, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth comes out swinging with a bellicose return to a 1950s foreign policy stance, evoking all the death and destruction that has involved. Richard Marles responds with his usual grovel but goes back even further with his slogan, 'Peace through strength' – frighteningly reminiscent of 'Peace in our time'. Australia, right now, is in urgent need of an independent forward-thinking defence minister to plan beyond the increasingly irrational and ever-myopic self-interest of the US. John Laurie, Riddells Creek Just what is Marles actually saying? Is Defence Minister Richard Marles endorsing Australia joining the United States if there is war with China over its claims that Taiwan belongs to China? Malcolm McDonald, Burwood 'Peace through strength' a contradiction Yet again, we foolishly acquiesce to the trumpeting of war by the US. As is seen daily in many parts of the US, it is in chaos. Under Donald Trump, it has ambushed many allies on tariffs. Richard Marles does not seem to understand that 'peace through strength' is a contradiction and is not a prelude to a peaceful world. This is demonstrated every day in Gaza and Ukraine. Judith Morrison, Nunawading Marles has placed us in harm's way Here we go again. The last time Australia hitched itself to the Donald Trump wagon, China imposed costly trade restrictions. Moreover, Defence Minister Richard Marles has placed us in harm's way. Trumpian America's self-delusion knows no bounds. America's Vietnam adventure ended in a humiliating withdrawal. That taking on an industrialised China on its home turf wouldn't end in abject failure is ludicrous to the extreme. If Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has any concern for the national interest, he'll rein in his defence minister and ask Foreign Minister Penny Wong to explain to Beijing in diplomatic terms that our sabres will be rattled only in self-defence of our own shores. John Mosig, Kew THE FORUM
