Hegseth Pledges U.S. Support to Taiwan in Case of Chinese Aggression
SINGAPORE—Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth vowed that the U.S. would come to the defense of Taiwan should China seek to 'conquer' the island, in a speech that appeared aimed at easing concerns in Asia over the U.S. commitment to its allies in the region.
In what was his most assertive statement to date on Taiwan, Hegseth issued a stark warning that threats to the island from China 'could be imminent.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
26 minutes ago
- Yahoo
The USWNT basks in the return of Naomi Girma – their ‘security blanket'
Compared to the past few windows, Saturday's 3-0 win was a game where the U.S. women's national team looked in complete control. The attack kept the pressure on China, continuing to threaten their defense as it frequently adjusted the height of its line of confrontation. Catarina Macario provided a goal and an assist; Lindsey Heaps and Sam Coffey scored from their midfield roles. Advertisement However, head coach Emma Hayes' post-match press conference started with a question about the long-awaited return of Naomi Girma and how the team benefited from her 90-minute shift. 'We've missed her, we really have,' Hayes said. 'Just in terms of the way we control the game; her, in a deeper space, just making decisions when to play forward, when not to.' As the first million-dollar transfer in women's soccer history, this year has only intensified the scrutiny that comes with being one of the world's best players in her position. Her time at Chelsea was not as smooth as the club and player had hoped. She exited her debut in early March with a calf injury, feeling the strain having gone nearly four months without playing a club match. Her first minutes back with Chelsea came in mid-April and this international window marked her first with the U.S. in 2025. 'I gave her a hug after the game,' said midfielder Coffey, who scored her second U.S. goal against China. 'Having her on the field is like having a security blanket, and just like being wrapped in it.' Advertisement After some tense and at times disjointed performances against Japan in the SheBelieves Cup and Brazil in a pair of friendlies, the USWNT dominated the entire match on Saturday. The defense played its part, with Coffey shuttling around to shield the back-line and the partnership between Girma and Emily Sonnett giving goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce ample coverage whenever China reached the final third. Those threats were few and far between. The USWNT dominated the chance-creation game, generating 3.01 expected goals (xG) while holding China to 0.18 xG. 'It does feel natural now,' Girma said of returning to the national team. 'I mean, I was able to watch what we did before, and I think a lot of what Emma wants to do is layer on what we had done in the past year. I think the changes are good and easy for me to kind of adapt to, with that base knowledge of how we want to play. 'It was just nice to be back on the field.' Advertisement As was often the case during the triumphant run to Olympic gold last summer, Girma was at the heart of the team's build-up. She logged a staggering 138 touches, per TruMedia, 41 more than the team's second-most involved player (Avery Patterson, with the right-back notching 97 touches). Girma completed 95.3 percent of her 129 pass attempts, helping determine how the USWNT worked to break through China's defensive structure. She also put in a defensive shift that embodied working smarter, not harder. She was not throwing herself into many challenges, though much of that work was done well before the ball even reached the U.S. defense. Still, she was quick on mop up duty, leading the USWNT with seven ball clearances (nobody else had more than three) while winning all three ground duels and her only aerial duel. Having her in the back-line only helped the midfield feel more confident as they engaged defensively, with peace of mind that she was in position if they failed to win the ball. Advertisement 'I can't put into words what she means to this team,' Coffey said. 'I think everybody sees it on the field, but off the field as well. She's just a joy in this environment and such a light for us. We have missed her so much. I thought she was exceptional today, as she always is.' In a year characterized by frequent rotation across Hayes' squads and lineups, Girma's return represents a different type of variable for the team. Throughout 2025, Hayes has called on a number of center-backs, each auditioning to be Girma's primary partner. Sonnett represents a vital holdover from the team's last World Cup win in 2019, having established herself as a hard-nosed veteran along the back-line. Emily Sams came off the bench against China, while Tara McKeown has earned five caps this year. The latter two in particular are emblematic of Hayes' examination of her broader player pool, with both stepping into more important roles given positional absences. Not only has Girma been missing, but so has her partner last summer, Tierna Davidson, who tore her ACL in April. While Sams, McKeown, Sonnett and others have stepped into their roles, none can quite match the same comfortable benchmark established by Girma. Advertisement 'I mean, she's a world-class player,' Hayes said. 'I thought she brought something to our performance that we're looking for, so I'm delighted to have her back.' Once she returned to playing regular minutes for Chelsea in mid-April, she was eased back into the fold. While Chelsea kept clean sheets in each of her final four performances of the WSL season, only two of those matches saw Girma play all 90 minutes. 'It was a lot of transition for me,' Girma said on Friday regarding her first months with Chelsea. 'I think it was a huge learning experience for me. You always have those moments in your career where you're up and down, up and down, up and down, so it was definitely like that. 'But I think it was a good five months of getting settled, getting to know my team-mates, getting used to playing there, playing with a new team, and living in a new country. So it's been really positive so far, and I've really enjoyed it.' Advertisement Girma logged her 46th cap, an impressive total for a 24-year-old defender who seems destined to be the bedrock of this team for years to come. With its world class center-back in the lineup, the United States put together its most composed performance of the year. Then again, that revelation hardly comes as a surprise given Girma's floor-raising performances since her debut in 2022. This article originally appeared in The Athletic. US Women's national team, Soccer, NWSL, UK Women's Football 2025 The Athletic Media Company
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
UK wants nuclear-armed US fighter jets to counter Russian threat, Times reports
The U.K. is looking to revamp its defense capabilities and on the wish list of new weapons are U.S.-made fighter jets capable of launching tactical nuclear weapons to, in part, counter the threat from Russia, the Sunday Times reported on June 1. The British military has a substantial nuclear arsenal, but after decommissioning a number of platforms at the end of the Cold War, can today only launch such weapons from its submarines. According to the Sunday Times, the new air fleet will form a key part of the UK's strategic defense review, set to go public on June 2. The military is looking at F-35A Lightning stealth fighter jets, made by Lockheed Martin, the report says. The review is largely in response to the increasing risk of state-on-state warfare, specifically the threat of a Russian attack. In other line items from the pending review, the U.K. government is asking for £6 billion ($8 billion) for more ammunition, to be manufactured in six new factories, as well as a boost in the number of the navy's fleet of destroyers and frigates from 14 to 25. The U.K. government will also consider a new missile defense shield capable of protecting against prospective ballistic attacks. The broad plan is to boost British defense spending to 3% of GDP. But the projected timeframe for that boost is between now and 2034. Post-Cold War plans for increasing defense spending in Europe have historically sunk amid murky deadlines and administration handoffs. Read also: As 50,000 Russian troops amass, Ukraine's Sumy Oblast braces for potential large-scale offensive We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
China warns US not to ‘play with fire' over Taiwan
China has warned the United States against 'playing with fire' over Taiwan in response to US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth calling the Asian power a 'threat to the region' at a high-profile summit in Singapore. Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue on Saturday, Hegseth said China was 'credibly preparing' for military action to shift Asia's power balance, accusing Beijing of rehearsing a potential invasion of Taiwan. China considers Taiwan, a separately governed island, to be a part of its territory and has vowed reunification by force if necessary. Taiwan's government rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims, saying only the island's people can decide their future. Hegseth's remarks provoked a swift rebuke from China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which stressed that Taiwan remains a domestic matter, warning foreign powers against using the issue as leverage. It described US actions in Asia Pacific as turning the region into a 'powder keg'. 'The US should not entertain illusions about using the Taiwan question as a bargaining chip to contain China, nor should it play with fire,' it had called on allies in the Asia Pacific region, including key security ally Australia, to spend more on defence after warning of the 'real and potentially imminent' threat from China. Calling the US a 'true destabilising' force in the Asia Pacific, Beijing accused Washington of deploying offensive weapons in the South China Sea and aggravating regional tensions. Beijing accused Hegseth of 'vilifying China with defamatory allegations' and promoting a 'Cold War mentality'. 'Hegseth deliberately ignored the call for peace and development by countries in the region, and instead touted the Cold War mentality for bloc confrontation, vilified China with defamatory allegations, and falsely called China a threat,' the ministry said, adding that it had lodged a formal protest with the US over what it described as 'inflammatory rhetoric'.China and the Philippines contest sovereignty over some islands and atolls in the South China Sea, with growing maritime run-ins between their coastguards as both vie to patrol the waters. Beijing also rejected US claims about threats to maritime navigation, insisting it has consistently promoted dialogue to resolve regional disputes and safeguarded its territorial rights within the bounds of international law. 'The US is the biggest factor undermining peace and stability in the South China Sea,' the statement read. China's Defence Minister Dong Jun skipped the annual Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia's premier security forum, with Beijing sending a delegation of lower-ranking representatives instead. It was the first time since 2019 that China has not dispatched its defence minister to the high-level dialogue on regional defence, except when the event was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Tensions are already high between China and the US – the world's two biggest economic powers – over Trump's ongoing trade war and tariff threats.
