U.S.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks at the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue
security summit in Singapore, May 31, 2025. REUTERS/Edgar Su Purchase Licensing Rights
Pentagon chief warns of imminent China threat, pushes Asian allies to boost defence spending
SINGAPORE,
May 31 (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned on
Saturday that the threat from China was real and potentially imminent as
he pushed allies in the Indo-Pacific to spend more on their own defence
needs.
Hegseth,
speaking for the first time at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore,
Asia's premier forum for defence leaders, militaries and diplomats,
underlined that the Indo-Pacific region was a priority for the Trump
administration.
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"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.
But
his comments on allies needing to increase spending is likely to cause
consternation amongst partners, even though experts said Hegseth would
face a relatively friendly audience in Singapore. China's Defence
Minister Dong Jun has decided to skip 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 defence. 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 defence 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% of their GDP on defence, even Germany.
So it doesn't make sense for countries in Europe to do that while key
allies in Asia spend less on defence in the face of an even more
formidable threat, not to mention North Korea."
Dutch
Defence Minister Ruben Brekelmans said it was important to have Hegseth
acknowledge that European countries were stepping up.
"It
was for me maybe the first time or one of the first times I heard the
U.S administration acknowledge this explicitly," Brekelmans said,
referring to Hegseth's comments.
'PATRONISING'
U.S.
Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth, who is co-leading a bi-partisan
delegation to the Shangri-la Dialogue, said it was noteworthy that
Hegseth emphasised that the United States was committed to the region,
but his language on allies was not helpful.
"I thought it was patronising 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 defence
industries, according to a new study by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, the organisation that runs the Shangri-La Dialogue.
The
spike comes even as Asian nations spent an average of 1.5% of GDP on
defence 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 defence 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."
Reporting by Idrees Ali. Additional reporting by Jun Yuan Yong and Fanny Potkin; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Shri Navaratnam