U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Saturday assured his Indo-Pacific allies that they will not be left alone in the face of growing military and economic pressure from China, while stressing the need for them to be proactive in their own defense.
He noted that Washington intends to strengthen its defenses abroad to counter threats that the Pentagon sees as rapidly developing from Beijing, especially in light of China's aggressive stance toward Taiwan.
China has conducted multiple exercises to assess what a blockade of the autonomous island, which Beijing claims as its own territory but which the United States has pledged to defend, might look like.
The Chinese military is “rehearsing real action,” Mr Hegseth said in his keynote speech at a security conference in Singapore.
“We're not going to sugarcoat it – the threat from China is real. And it may become inevitable.”
China has set a target of 2027 to ensure its military has the ability to seize Taiwan if necessary, a timeframe that experts see as more of an ambitious goal than a hard deadline for conflict.
However, China has also built sophisticated artificial islands in the South China Sea to support new military bases and developed high-tech hypersonic and space capabilities, prompting the US to build its own Golden Dome missile defense system.
Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue global security conference organised by the International Institute for Security Studies, Mr Hegseth said China was no longer just building up its military forces to seize Taiwan, but was “actively training for it every day”.
Mr Hegseth also criticised China for its ambitions in Latin America, particularly its efforts to increase its influence over the Panama Canal.
He called on countries in the region to increase their defence spending to a level comparable to 5% of their gross domestic product, which is currently the obligation for European countries.
“We all have to do our part,” Mr. Hegseth said.
He also repeated a pledge made by previous administrations to build up US military power in the Indo-Pacific region to provide more credible deterrence.
While the Obama and Biden administrations also committed to focusing their forces on the Pacific and entered into new military agreements across the region, the full transition never materialized.
Instead, US military resources from the Indo-Pacific have often been reallocated to support military needs in the Middle East and Europe, particularly following the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza.
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Sourse: breakingnews.ie
