US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth reassured Pacific allies at the Shangri-La defence conference in Singapore that Washington remained committed to the region, while toning down previous comments calling China a threat. According to reports from Associated Press, Hegseth emphasized that the region "has profound implications for US security and prosperity" and that Washington's priority was to "achieve a lasting and favorable balance of power in the Pacific." This represents a significant shift from his previous warnings about China's aggressive stance toward Taiwan, particularly his statement that China was "actively training for it, every day." However, he maintained that there remains rightful alarm regarding China's historic military buildup and the expansion of its military activities in the region and beyond, as reported by Associated Press.
The meeting comes approximately two weeks after US President Donald Trump visited Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing, following which Trump called Xi a "great leader" and said they were going to have a "fantastic future together." As reported by Associated Press, Hegseth, who was present during the Beijing meetings, said the two leaders had agreed that China and the US should "build a constructive relationship of strategic stability, based on fairness and reciprocity, reaffirming that while our nations will vigorously protect our respective interests, we can secure practical, mutually beneficial agreements where our interests align." However, he emphasized that it remained an American priority to ensure that China is not allowed to dominate the Indo-Pacific, stating "We share a clear-eyed assessment of that security environment and a mutual understanding that a Pacific dominated by any hegemon would unravel the regional balance of power and undermine the equilibrium we all seek to preserve."
After the Xi-Trump meetings, the American president raised questions about Washington's willingness to defend Taiwan, calling a new $14 billion arms package that he has yet to greenlight "a very good negotiating chip for us" with China. According to Associated Press, China claims the democratic self-governing island as its own, and Xi has not ruled out using force to take it. The US is required by law to help provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, though it follows a policy of "strategic ambiguity" on whether it would intervene militarily if China were to attack the island. Hegseth told the forum that there was "no change in our status" toward Taiwan, but would not comment on the arms deal, stating "Any decision about future Taiwan arms sales, as the president said, will rest with him."
US Sen. Tammy Duckworth, part of a congressional delegation to the conference, accused the Trump administration of "cozying up" to China. As reported by Associated Press, the Illinois Democrat told reporters that "I worry that this administration is being distracted into wars that they've started in other parts of the world at the expense of our commitment here in the Indo-Pacific." She added that "I am concerned that it seems like our president is entering into, you know, policies where he's doing what Beijing wants him to do." Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles responded to Hegseth's speech, stating that while the international rules-based order is not perfect, "the task before us, all of us, including the great powers, is the renovation of that order, not its dismemberment." Marles emphasized that "When the rules apply, smaller states have agency, when the rules yield to power, sovereignty becomes, as others have put it, the purview of the powerful, and no state in this room today, whatever its size, is well served by that outcome."
Hegseth emphasized the Trump administration's insistence that allies increase defence spending, stating "we need partners, not protectorates." According to Associated Press, he lauded several countries in Asia for their efforts while reiterating criticism of European allies who he suggested were "distracted by empty globalist rhetoric about the rules-based international order." He told the forum that "Our partners in Asia have long understood that the bedrock of a durable partnership is not based on idealistic values but on the concrete alignment of national interests." Hegseth did not mention either the war in Ukraine or Iran in his speech, when asked about Iran he only said that Trump had assured him that when negotiations with Tehran had concluded, "any deal will be a good deal."
