Hegseth, at Asia Forum, Cites Improved Relations With Communist China After Trump-Xi Summit

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth praised America’s Asian allies for their stepped-up defense spending, cited improved relations with China, and — notably — did not mention Taiwan at all in remarks Saturday to the annual Shangri–La Dialogue at Singapore. The comments on China stood in contrast to his address to the same forum a year ago, in which he spoke repeatedly of “Communist China” and warned of “devastating consequences” if Beijing were to try to overthrow the Free Chinese government on Taiwan by force.Mr. Hegseth devoted much of his speech to America’s oft-repeated demand that its allies do more to provide for their own defense, saying, “the era of the United States subsidizing the defense of wealthy nations is over. We need partners, not protectorates.”At the same time, he praised the contributions of almost a dozen regional allies, ranging from regional powers like South Korea, Japan, and India to smaller players like Malaysia and Thailand, contrasting those nations with America’s NATO allies in Europe.“For too long polite pleas from our European allies to spend more on their own defense fell on deaf ears,” he said, adding ominously: “Europe and NATO have some big decisions to make, and more on that soon.”On China, whose military buildup around Taiwan and in the South China Sea deeply worries many of the forum’s participants, Mr. Hegseth was notably more conciliatory than in the past.“Under President Trump’s leadership, relations between the United States and China are better than they’ve been in many years,” he said, alluding to the American president’s May 14-15 talks in Beijing with President Xi Jin-ping.“President Trump and this administration seek a stable peace, fair trade, and respectful relations with China,” he said, adding that the two leaders agreed in Beijing “that the United States and China should build a constructive relationship of strategic stability based on fairness and reciprocity.”The secretary pointed to increased military-to-military communication between the two countries, through which they “can coordinate, deconflict, and reduce the risk of miscalculation.”Analysts noted the absence in the speech of any mention of Taiwan, a self-governing democracy that Beijing seeks to return to its pre-1949 status as a province of mainland China, by force if necessary.China’s Xinhua news agency quoted Mr. Xi saying at the summit that America and China “will have clashes and even conflicts” if the issue is not handled properly” and urging the United States “to exercise extra caution in handling the Taiwan question.”Days later, Mr. Trump announced a pause on a $14 billion arms sale to Taiwan. Asked by an audience member at Singapore about the pause, Mr. Hegseth reportedly replied simply that “any decision about future Taiwan arms sales will rest with” Mr. Trump.At the same time, Mr. Hegseth acknowledged the “rightful alarm” felt by many of the Asia-Pacific nations at China’s military expansion in the region. “We share a clear-eyed assessment of that security environment and a mutual understanding that a Pacific dominated by any hegemon would unravel the regional balance of power and undermine the equilibrium we all seek to preserve,” he said.“What we seek and what the President has constantly articulated is a genuinely stable equilibrium that works for Americans as well as our ally, a favorable but durable balance of power in which no state, including China, can impose its hegemony and hold the security or prosperity of our nation and our allies in question.”The tone was markedly different from that in Mr. Hegseth’s remarks to the forum last year, in which he stressed the American president’s determination “that Communist China will not invade Taiwan on his watch.”“Again, to be clear,” he said on that occasion, “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.”

Hegseth, at Asia Forum, Cites Improved Relations With Communist China After Trump-Xi Summit

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