Hegseth Warns on China Threat, Pushes Allies on Defense Spending

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pressed US partners in Asia to boost defense spending toward 5% of gross domestic product, warning that more urgency is needed to prepare for a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan.

Addressing defense officials at a conference in Singapore, Hegseth warned countries against deepening economic ties with China while boosting defense relations with the US. And he made clear President Donald Trump’s administration would apply the NATO model to the region — aggressively demanding countries spend more to defend themselves.

“NATO members are pledging to spend 5% of their GDP on defense — even Germany,” Hegseth said Saturday at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. “So it doesn’t make sense for countries in Europe to do that while key allies in Asia spend less on defense in the face of an even more formidable threat, not to mention North Korea?”

The speech — his first major outline of the Trump administration’s approach to defense in Asia — fit with a broad push by members of the Trump administration to shift their focus from Europe’s defense to Asia and particularly China, which US officials have long said is the premier threat facing the US.

It will also force tough decisions for many US allies and partners in Asia, which aren’t spending anywhere close to 5% of GDP on defense. As of last year, South Korea led the region with 2.6% of GDP, followed by Taiwan, Australia, Japan and the Philippines, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. 

The US also doesn’t spend 5% of GDP on defense, though it pours more into military spending than any other nation. 

Hegseth’s approach also signaled that US allies would see no relief from the pressure Trump imposed in his first term, when he demanded Japan and South Korea pay more to host US troops. Hegseth didn’t mention that spending specifically in his speech, but Trump administration officials have consistently said that countries around the world should become less dependent on the US as the guarantor of their security.

Hegseth echoed sentiments that Trump laid out in a speech in Saudi Arabia in May, saying the US didn’t want to “pressure other countries to embrace and adopt our politics or ideology.”

“We’re not here to impose our will on you,” Hegseth said. 

He also sought to reassure Chinese officials — who reject accusations that they plan to attack Taiwan — by saying twice that the US doesn’t seek war with China. 

He acknowledged that allies’ economic dependence on China would complicate US decision-making, saying that “nobody knows what China will ultimately do, but they are preparing, and therefore we must be ready as well.”

He made clear that while the US won’t abandon its allies, their close relationships won’t stop the US from pressing them to invest more in their defense industrial bases to counter China. And he warned that “urgency and vigilance” is the only option.

“The threat China poses is real,” he said. 

Hegseth visited Japan and the Philippines in March but the trip to Singapore for the annual Shangri-La Dialogue was his chance to spell out for the region’s defense officials Trump’s military strategy for the next three years.

The forum has often been a place where the top defense officials from the US and China would meet, but Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun is skipping this year’s event — an absence Hegseth pointed out in his speech.

Last year, then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin touted improved relations with Beijing even as he highlighted Washington’s efforts to rally regional partners to counter Beijing. The new administration’s approach could further raise tensions between the US and China that are again on the rise.

Trump on Friday accused China of violating an agreement with the US to ease tariffs. His administration has introduced new restrictions on the sale of chip design software, and announced earlier this week it would start revoking some Chinese student visas, a move that Beijing has blasted as “discriminatory.” 

Describing the Indo-Pacific as the “priority theater” for the US, Hegseth said the Trump administration expects countries to commit more to collaborative defense against an “urgent” threat from China. 

“The only way to ensure lasting alliances and partnerships is to make sure that each side does its part,” he said.

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