Latest news with #PeteHegseth
News18
35 minutes ago
- Politics
- News18
US Defence Secy's Warning To Indo-Pacific: 'China Eyeing To Alter Power Balance By Military Force'
Last Updated: US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has warned the Asian countries that China is preparing to potentially use military force to alter power balance in the Indo-Pacific region. US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth on Saturday called upon the Asian countries to 'upgrade their own defences" to boost their deterrence against China, warning that Beijing is preparing to use its military force to 'alter the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific". He also warned China that any such attempt by the communist country to conquer Taiwan would lead to 'devastating consequences" for the region and the world. Referring to a potential Chinese takeover of Taiwan, Hegseth reiterated the US's commitment to increase its presence in the Indo-Pacific. His remarks came while addressing the Shangri-la Dialogue in Singapore, where no senior Chinese delegate was present at this year's conference. 'US allies in the Indo-Pacific can and should upgrade their own defences," Hegseth said, The Guardian reported. 'It has to be clear to all that Beijing is credibly preparing to potentially use military force to alter the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific. Any attempt by communist China to conquer Taiwan by force will result in devastating consequences for the Indo-Pacific and the world. There's no reason to sugar coat it. The threat China poses is real, and it could be imminent," the Defence Secretary added. Hegseth also announced several new joint initiatives, including expanding access to military ship and aircraft repair facilities, including in Australia. 'Asian countries should look to allies in Europe as a newfound example. Deterrence doesn't come on the cheap… Time is of the essence," he said. A new study by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, which is organising the Singapore event, has found that defence spending across Asia is currently surging. This rise comes on top of what has been a relatively steady annual average of 1.5% of GDP spent on weapons and research. First Published: May 31, 2025, 09:29 IST
Daily Mail
40 minutes ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Hegseth sounds alarm on China's 'imminent' Taiwan invasion
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a chilling warning on the China threat during a defense summit in Singapore. He said on Saturday that the threat from China was potentially imminent as he pushed allies in the Indo-Pacific to spend more on their own defense. Hegseth, speaking for the first time at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Asia 's forum for defense leaders, militaries and diplomats, underlined that the Indo-Pacific region was a priority for the Trump administration. 'There's no reason to sugar coat it. The threat China poses is real, and it could be imminent' Hegseth said, in some of his strongest comments on the Communist nation since he took office in January. He added that any attempt by China to conquer Taiwan 'would result in devastating consequences for the Indo-Pacific and the world,' and echoed Trump's comment that China will not invade Taiwan on the president's watch. China views Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to 'reunify' with the democratic and separately governed island, by force if necessary. It has stepped up military and political pressure to assert those claims, including increasing the intensity of war games around Taiwan. Taiwan's government rejects Beijing 's sovereignty claims, saying only the island's people can decide their future. 'It has to be clear to all that Beijing is credibly preparing to potentially use military force to alter the balance of power in the Indo Pacific,' Hegseth said. His comments on allies needing to increase spending is likely to cause anxiety amongst partners, even though experts said Hegseth would face a relatively friendly audience in Singapore. China's Defense Minister Dong Jun skipped the major Asian security forum and Beijing has sent only an academic delegation. Hegseth has previously taken aim at allies in Europe for not spending more on their own defense. In February, he warned Europe against treating America like a 'sucker' while addressing a press conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels. On Friday, while delivering the keynote address at the Shangri-La Dialogue, French President Emmanuel Macron said Hegseth was justified in asking Europe to increase its own defense spending. 'It's hard to believe, a little bit, after some trips to Europe that I'm saying this, but thanks to President Trump, Asian allies should look to countries in Europe as a new found example,' Hegseth said. 'NATO members are pledging to spend 5 percent of their GDP on defense, even Germany. So it doesn't make sense for countries in Europe to do that while key allies in Asia spend less on defense in the face of an even more formidable threat, not to mention North Korea.' Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth, who is co-leading a bi-partisan delegation to the Shangri-la Dialogue, said it was noteworthy that Hegseth emphasized that the United States was committed to the region, but his language on allies was not helpful. 'I thought it was patronizing of our friends in the Indo-Pacific in particular,' Duckworth said. Spending on weapons and research is spiking among some Asian countries as they respond to a darkening security outlook by broadening their outside industrial partnerships while trying to boost their own defense industries, according to a new study by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, the organization that runs the Shangri-La Dialogue. The spike comes even as Asian nations spent an average of 1.5 percent of GDP on defense in 2024, a figure that has kept relatively constant over the last decade, it said. Hegseth suggested that allies in Europe focus on security on the European continent, so that Washington could focus on the threat posed by China in the Indo-Pacific, alongside more participation by allies in Asia. 'We would much prefer that the overwhelming balance of European investment be on that continent, so that as we partner there, which we will continue to do, we're able to use our comparative advantage as an Indo-Pacific nation to support our partners here,' he said in response to a question after his speech. But some of the Trump administration's early moves in the Indo-Pacific have raised eyebrows. The U.S. moved air defense systems from Asia to the Middle East earlier this year as tensions with Iran spiked - an effort that took 73 C-17 flights. Hegseth, a former Fox TV host who has spent much of his first months in office focused on domestic issues, spoke to the international audience on topics that he has frequently talked about when in the United States, like 'restoring the warrior ethos.' 'We are not here to pressure other countries to embrace or adopt our politics or ideology. We are not here to preach to you about climate change or cultural issues,' Hegseth said. 'We respect you, your traditions and your militaries. And we want to work with you where our shared interests align.'
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Business
- Yahoo
US calls for Asia allies to boost defenses in face of China's ‘imminent' threat, Hegseth tells top defense forum
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Saturday delivered a dire warning to the Asia-Pacific region and the world: China's designs on Taiwan pose a threat to global peace and stability that requires 'our allies and partners do their part on defense.' 'There is no reason to sugarcoat it. The threat China poses is real. And it could be imminent,' Hegseth said in a speech to the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia's premier defense forum, in Singapore. 'Beijing is credibly preparing potentially to use military force to alter the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific,' with People's Liberation Army (PLA) forces training daily to take military action against Taiwan, Hegseth said. He noted that Chinese leader Xi Jinping has ordered his military to be prepared by 2027 to invade Taiwan, the democratic island of 23 million people that the Chinese Communist Party claims as its sovereign territory despite having never ruled it. 'The PLA is building the military needed to do it, training for it every day and rehearsing for the real deal,' Hegseth said, delivering some of his strongest comments against China since he took office in January. He said US President Donald Trump has pledged not to let Taiwan fall to China on his watch, and he called on US allies and partners in the region to band together to stand up to Beijing, both on the Taiwan issue and other regional disputes where China aggressively pursues its agenda, such as in the South China Sea. 'China's behavior towards its neighbors and the world is a wake-up call. And an urgent one,' the US defense chief said. But he said the US cannot deter the Chinese threat alone, calling on other nations to be 'force multipliers' against Beijing. 'We ask – and indeed, we insist – that our allies and partners do their part on defense,' he said. Hegseth urged Asian countries to increase their defense spending, pointing to NATO allies who have boosted it to 5% of gross domestic product. 'So it doesn't make sense for countries in Europe to do that while key allies in Asia spend less on defense in the face of an even more formidable threat, not to mention North Korea,' he said. While Hegseth made clear that Washington does not seek conflict with China, he stressed the Trump administration would not let aggression from Beijing stand. 'We will not be pushed out of this critical region, and we will not let our allies be subordinated and intimidated,' he said. Hegseth's speech adds to heated tensions between Washington and Beijing. China has railed against America's efforts in recent years to tighten its alliances and stiffen its defense posture in Asia, while economic frictions rose to historic levels earlier this year after Trump imposed tariffs on China, sparking a tit-for-tat between the two countries that saw duties rise to more than 100% on each other's goods. The annual Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore has in the past been a place where defense leaders from the US and China can meet on the sidelines and foster at least a minimal dialogue between the two foes. No such meeting is expected to take place this year. China announced on Thursday that it would send only a low-level delegation from its National Defense University to Shangri-La, rather than its defense minister, who has spoken at the past five forums. When the International Institute for Strategic Studies, which sponsors the event, belatedly released a speakers list for the forum on Friday afternoon, the usual 8:30 a.m. time slot for a Chinese representative to speak was scrubbed from the agenda. At a Chinese Defense Ministry press conference on Thursday, a spokesperson ducked a question on why Beijing was not sending its defense minister to the forum. China was 'open to communication at all levels between the two sides,' a ministry spokesperson said, when asked about a potential sidelines meeting with the US delegation. Hegseth's call for allied cooperation in deterring China is a carryover from the Biden administration, but the Trump administration seems more strident than its predecessor. Ahead of the Singapore conference, there was broad consensus among analysts that unlike the turmoil Trump has caused in Europe – with threats to pull back from NATO and abandon Ukraine in its fight against Russia's invasion – the US role in Asia has largely been consistent, centered on a policy to counter Chinese influence and back Taiwan. Analysts noted that US-led military exercises, especially those involving key allies Japan, Australia, the Philippines and South Korea, have continued or even been bolstered in 2025.
Free Malaysia Today
an hour ago
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
Pentagon chief says China set to use force to alter Asia status quo
US secretary of defence Pete Hegseth pressed allies and partners in Asia to step up defence spending. (AP pic) SINGAPORE : US secretary of defence Pete Hegseth warned today that China was 'credibly preparing to potentially use military force to alter the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific'. The Pentagon chief made the remarks at an annual security forum in Singapore, where he pressed US allies and partners in Asia to step up defence spending. 'The threat China poses is real and it could be imminent,' Hegseth said at the Shangri-La Dialogue, adding that Beijing 'hopes to dominate and control' Asia. Beijing's military was building the capabilities to invade Taiwan, training every day and 'rehearsing for the real deal', he said. Citing stepped-up cooperation with allies including Japan and the Philippines, and a deepening military partnership with India, Hegseth said the US was 'reorienting toward deterring aggression by communist China'. He called on Washington's allies and partners in the region to ramp up spending on their militaries in the face of the Chinese threat. 'It's hard to believe a little bit… that I'm saying this, but thanks to president Trump, Asian allies should look to countries in Europe for a newfound example,' Hegseth said, citing pledges by Nato members including Germany to move toward US President Donald Trump's spending target of 5% of GDP. 'Deterrence doesn't come on the cheap.'
India Today
an hour ago
- Politics
- India Today
China rehearsing for real deal: US warns of imminent threat in Indo-Pacific
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth reassured allies in the Indo-Pacific on Saturday that they will not be left alone to face increasing military and economic pressure from China, as Washington warned a potential conflict over Taiwan could be 'imminent.'He said Washington will bolster its defences overseas to counter what the Pentagon sees as rapidly developing threats by Beijing, particularly in its aggressive stance toward Taiwan. China has conducted numerous exercises to test what a blockade would look like of the self-governing island, which Beijing claims as its own and the US has pledged to army 'is rehearsing for the real deal,' Hegseth said in a keynote speech at a security conference in Singapore. 'We are not going to sugarcoat it — the threat China poses is real. And it could be imminent.'HEGSETH SAYS CHINA IS TRAINING TO INVADE TAIWAN China has a stated goal of having its military be able to take Taiwan by force if necessary by 2027, a deadline that is seen by experts as more of an aspirational goal than a hard war China also has built sophisticated man-made islands in the South China Sea to support new military outposts and developed highly advanced hypersonic and space capabilities, which are driving the US to create its own space-based 'Golden Dome' missile at the Shangri-La Dialogue, a global security conference hosted by the International Institute for Security Studies, Hegseth said China is no longer just building up its military forces to take Taiwan, it's 'actively training for it, every day.'advertisementHegseth also called out China for its ambitions in Latin America, particularly its efforts to increase its influence over the Panama urged countries in the region to increase defence spending to levels similar to the 5% of their gross domestic product European nations are now pressed to contribute.'We must all do our part,' Hegseth RAISED ABOUT US COMMITMENT TO INDO-PACIFICHe also repeated a pledge made by previous administrations to bolster US military capabilities in the Indo-Pacific to provide a more robust deterrent. While both the Obama and Biden administrations had also committed to pivoting to the Pacific and established new military agreements throughout the region, a full shift has never been US military resources from the Indo-Pacific have been regularly pulled to support military needs in the Middle East and Europe, especially since the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. In the first few months of President Donald Trump's second term, that's also been the the last few months the Trump administration has taken a Patriot missile defence battalion out of the Indo-Pacific in order to send it to the Middle East, a massive logistical operation that required more than 73 military cargo aircraft flights, and sent Coast Guard ships back to the US to help defend the US-Mexico was asked why the US pulled those resources if the Indo-Pacific is the priority theatre for the US He did not directly answer but said the shift of resources was necessary to defend against Houthi missile attacks launched from Yemen, and to bolster protections against illegal immigration into the USThe Indo-Pacific nations caught in between have tried to balance relations with both the US and China over the years. Beijing is the primary trading partner for many, but is also feared as a regional bully, in part due to its increasingly aggressive claims on natural resources such as critical cautioned that playing both sides, seeking US military support and Chinese economic support, carries risk."Beware the leverage the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) seeks with that entanglement,' Hegseth SENDS LOWER-LEVEL DELEGATIONChina usually sends its own defense minister to this conference, but Dong Jun did not attend this year in a snub to the US and the erratic tariff war Trump has ignited with Beijing, something the US delegation said it intended to capitalise on.'We are here this morning. And somebody else isn't,' Hegseth was asked by a member of the Chinese delegation, made up of lower level officers from the National Defence University, how committed it would be to regional alliances. In some, China has a more dominant said the US would be open to engaging with any countries willing to work with it.'We are not going to look only inside the confines of how previous administrations looked at this region," he said. "We're opening our arms to countries across the spectrum — traditional allies, non-traditional allies.'Hegseth said committing US support for Indo-Pacific nations would not require local governments to align with the West on cultural or climate not clear if the US can or wants to supplant China as the region's primary economic driver. But Hegseth's push follows Trump's visit to the Middle East, which resulted in billions of dollars in new defence InMust Watch IN THIS STORY#United States of America
