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US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has described relations with Beijing as “better than they have been in many years”, while still pressuring Indo-Pacific allies to increase defense spending on par with “China’s historic military buildup”.
The defense secretary, speaking at the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Saturday, said Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing this month to meet Xi Jinping, the first by a US president in nine years, was “truly historic”.
“Relations between the United States and China are better than they have been for many years,” Hegseth said in a speech, which did not directly mention Taiwan, the main potential flashpoint between the US and China in the region.
But he said that to maintain “strategic stability” with China, the US and its allies need to negotiate from a position of strength, which would require US partners in the region to increase military spending to 3.5 percent of GDP.
“For those countries that rise to this challenge, that accept responsibility as true partners, the benefits will be obvious… accelerated arms sales, deeper industrial-based cooperation, expanded intelligence sharing… But for those that believe they can continue to freely ride on the largesse of the American taxpayer, hear us now. Those days are over,” he said.
He pointed to South Korea as an example of a good partner after President Lee Jae-Myung committed to spending 3.5 percent of GDP on defense.
He praised other countries in the region, including Japan, saying, “They remain on the front lines, and so they constitute the real fighting force.” “We are seeing a similar and significant change in Tokyo.”
Hegseth said the region is a wake-up call about China’s historic military buildup and the expansion of its military activities in the region and beyond.
“While durable peace is our goal, make no mistake: America is a Pacific nation, and we insist that China respect our long-term position in the region,” he said.
The annual conference in Singapore is seen as an important opportunity for the US and its allies to meet their Chinese counterparts. However, China has not sent any high-level delegation, including the Defense Minister, for the last two years.
In addition to taking a notably softer stance on China than last year’s forum, Hegseth’s speech was striking at the Taiwan omission, which has typically been a key part of past addresses by US defense secretaries. Last year, Hegseth issued a dire warning that a Chinese military attack on Taiwan “could be immediate”.
On Saturday, the closest he came in his prepared speech to mentioning Taiwan, over which China’s Communist Party government claims sovereignty, was to say the US is committed to protecting the “first island chain” – the ring of western Pacific nations that includes Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines.
Trump said after meeting Xi that a $14 billion arms sales package his administration has prepared for Taiwan could be a “negotiating chip” in negotiations with China. His comments sparked alarm among Taiwan and Indo-Pacific allies, raising concerns that he would not move forward with the package, which has not yet been formally unveiled.
The US Navy Secretary recently suggested that the Pentagon halt arms sales to Taiwan because of the war in Iran. But Hegseth rejected that comment, saying there was no connection between US arms stockpile levels and Taiwan’s weapons. He stressed that decisions on future arms sales would be made by Trump and that the US has adequate arms stockpile and production.
Chris Estep, a former Pentagon official at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, said, “Beijing’s pressure against Taipei has not changed since last year, when Secretary Hegseth called it quits. This year’s comments provide an opportunity to again communicate that message, and the silence will speak volumes.”
“Players across the region are stepping up to invest in their own security, as they have rightly said. Not to mention Taipei’s recent decision to spend more… will raise eyebrows,” he said.
