The head of the Pentagon called on U.S. Western Pacific allies to maintain military strength and called on China not to disrupt the regional equilibrium while praising the current state of affairs between Washington and Beijing.
In his speech, United States’ Strategy for Peace in the Indo-Pacific, Hegseth made no mention of U.S. military engagements and activities in the region, instead focusing on Washington’s overall policy, outlook and expectations.
“Alliances only work when they are true partnerships. It is a two-way street. You don’t have a strong alliance unless everyone has skin in the game. No freeloading,” said Hegseth, who emphasized the importance of military strength in maintaining peace and stability, “We don’t need more conferences. We need more combat power. I’m sorry to say this here. Less Shangri-La, more ships, more subs.”
Hegseth said that for too long U.S. pleas for Europe to spend more on defence fell on deaf ears, but now Europe was catching up.
“You can have all the rules you want, and rules are great, but if you can’t back them up with hard power, the rules are not worth the paper they are written on. Europe and NATO have some big decisions to make,” Hegseth said.
Hegseth said that, from Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela to Midnight Hammer to cartel drug boats to Epic Fury, the U.S. has restored a proactive and realistic “peace through strength” approach to its own national defense, reestablishing deterrence.
He also said Washington’s Asian partners have long understood that the bedrock of a durable partnership is not idealistic values but the concrete alignment of national interests.
“When our interests align, we act together with focused resolve. When our interests diverge, we adjust pragmatically without the drama or the moralizing. I think Western Europe might take note,” said Hegseth.
Hegseth said the United States will no longer subsidize the defense of wealthy nations.
“We need partners, not protectorates,” he said. “We seek alliances built on shared responsibility, not dependency. This is the maturation of our alliances in a new era. It’s a vision that puts our alliances on a sustainable footing, ensuring they are fit for the challenges of this century, not the last,” casting it not a matter of choice but a matter of strategic prudence.
Hegseth said the National Defense Strategy directs the Pentagon to achieve a lasting and favourable balance of power in the Pacific region, makingChina’s military buildup and expansion of military activities alarming. He said the U.S. and its regional allies share a clear-eyed assessment of that security environment and agree that a Pacific dominated by any hegemon would unravel the regional balance of power.
“Our allies across Asia do not seek constant escalation, rhetorical theatrics, or a region defined by public confrontation. What they want and what the United States delivers is strength that is disciplined, resolve that is steady, and leadership that is confident enough to speak and walk softly while carrying a big stick,” he said.
Hegseth said the U.S. seeks a stable equilibrium that works for the U.S and its allies. No state, including China, should impose its hegemony and hold the security or prosperity of the U.S and its allies hostage.
“Our interests in the Pacific are significant, but they are also scoped and reasonable, defined by a favorable balance of power in which sovereignty is respected, commerce flows freely, and nations retain the freedom to make their own choices. This is the balance America upholds and will not allow others to overturn,” added Hegseth.However, Hegseth took a softer stance on U.S.-China relations. In last year’s speech where he called China an immediate threat to Taiwan. This year, he didn’t mention America’s island ally.
Hegseth said that the Trump administration seeks a stable peace, fair trade, and respectful relations with China. He claimed relations between the two countries are better than they’ve been in many years, pointing to the recent summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chines President Xi Jinping. The two presidents, Hegseth said, held a candid discussion and agreed that the United States and China should build a constructive, stable strategic relationship based on fairness and reciprocity.
He said the Pentagon is meeting more frequently with its Chinese counterparts, allowing both sides to coordinate andde-conflict their activities, reducing the risk of a miscalculation.
“This dialogue is not a sign of capitulation in either direction, but a practical guardrail ensuring the relationship our leaders seek at the top is preserved at every level,” he said. Later, during the question and answer session, Hegseth stated he wished China Minister of National Defense Adm. Dong Jun were present at the Shangri-La Dialogue, but he looked forward to other opportunities to cross paths and communicate. Hegseth last spoke in person to Dong when he accompanied Trump to Beijing.
The Secretary of War stressed that the U.S. was a Pacific nation and that China would have to respect the U.S. engagement and presence in the region, “And while a decent peace is our goal, make no mistake, America is a Pacific nation. And we insist that China respect our longstanding position in the region, and not just insist, but maintain the manifest military strength to underwrite it.”
During the question and answer session Hegseth downplayed Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao’s statement to Congress that the U.S. was pausing an arms package to Taiwan to ensure the U.S. had sufficient stocks for itself, saying that he would very much decouple the two, and that the Pentagon was positive about U.S. stockpiles, both on how it uses them and in Epic Fury. Hegseth stated any decision on arms sales to Taiwan would be made by Trump, “Any decision about future Taiwan arms sales, as the President said, will rest with him, and is a nature of that relationship. And certainly having been there for those meetings in Beijing, there’s no change in our status there.”.
Hegseth’s speech was criticized by Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), who is also in Singapore attending the Shangri-La Dialogue. “Under Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth, let’s be clear on what peace through strength has looked like: waging more illegal wars, embracing our adversaries and shirking responsibilities to our partners like Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific region. With our partners and adversaries alike watching us and learning from our every single move, we need a steady vision from the United States to ensure peace and prosperity,” said Duckworth during a video posted to social media following Hegseth’s speech.
Duckworth and Sen. John Curtis (R-Utah) introduced two bipartisan bills on Wednesday, before they departed Singapore, aimed at improving coordination between the United States and partners in the Indo-Pacific: the South China Sea Strategy Act and the Strategy for Crisis Management Act.
“Amid increasing aggression from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in the South China Sea, the Senators’ bills would help ensure the State Department prioritizes diplomatic engagement and improve the Department of Defense’s (DoD) management of tensions in the region before they grow into full-blown crises that would require military action,” read a joint release.
In his speech, Hegseth praised a number of Indo-Pacific countries for sharing more of their defense burden, improving military capabilities and ensuring security in the region, namely Australia, Indonesia, India, Japan, the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore. During the question and answer session, Japan Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi stated that while he felt U.S. commitment was unwavering, some countries had underestimated it and asked Hegseth if he could provide a message of reassurance. Hegseth replied that too many had focused on the National Defense Strategy’s Homeland Defense and the Western Hemisphere pillar, pointing out that the National Defense Strategy’s three other pillars were deterring China in the Indo-Pacific, burden sharing, and supercharging the defense industrial base, “And I think too many people were focused on the fact that number one is homeland and hemisphere. For us, that was a reorientation toward a forgotten aspect of our defense strategy.”