Tessa Wong
Reporting fromShangri-la Dialogue, Singapore
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has warned of China posing an “imminent” threat to Taiwan, while urging Asian countries to boost defence spending and work with the US to deter war.
Hegseth also said that while the US does not “seek to dominate or strangle China”, the US would not be pushed out of Asia and would not allow intimidation of allies.
He was addressing top Asian military officials at the Shangri-la Dialogue, a high-level defence summit held annually in Singapore.
Many in Asia fear potential instability if China invades Taiwan, a self-governing island claimed by Beijing. China has not ruled out the use of force.
Beijing has yet to respond to Hegseth’s Taiwan remarks.
In his speech, Hegseth characterised China as seeking to become a “hegemonic power” that “hopes to dominate and control too many parts” of Asia. China has clashed with several neighbours over competing territorial claims in the South China Sea.
He said that Beijing was “credibly preparing to potentially use military force to alter the balance of power” in Asia, and referred to a 2027 deadline that President Xi Jinping has allegedly given for China’s military to be capable to invade Taiwan.
This is a date put forth by US officials and generals for years, but has never been confirmed by Beijing.
China “is building the military needed to do it, training for it, every day and rehearsing for the real deal”, Hegseth said.
“Let me be clear: any attempt by Communist China to conquer Taiwan by force would result in devastating consequences for the Indo-Pacific and the world. There’s no reason to sugarcoat it. The threat China poses is real. And it could be imminent. We hope not but certainly could be.”
The Shangri-la Dialogue has traditionally served as a platform for the US and China to make their pitches to Asian countries as they jostle for influence in the region.
But while this year the US has sent one of its largest delegations ever, China instead has sent a notably low-level delegation and has scrapped its planned speech on Sunday.
No explanation has been given for this.
