US’s Hegseth warns Asia allies that China threat is ‘imminent’

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth delivered a stark warning to Asian allies on Saturday, portraying the threat China poses to the region as “real, and it could be imminent.”

In his first speech to the annual Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Hegseth was blunt about Washington’s view of the Chinese military buildup in the region and the threat it poses to Taiwan, calling on allies to spend more on defense while pledging continued American partnership and support.

“There’s no reason to sugarcoat it. The threat China poses is real, and it could be imminent,” Hegseth said. Any Chinese military move on Taiwan “would result in devastating consequences for the Indo-Pacific and the world,” he added.

The secretary’s comments were delivered in front of a packed room of Asian diplomats, military officials and business leaders, who heard the most fulsome comments on the threat of China delivered by any member of the Trump administration to date. It comes after President Donald Trump delivered a speech in Saudi Arabia this month outlining his vision of a reduced American military footprint around the world, while pushing allies to invest more heavily in their own security.

Vice President JD Vance followed that up with a speech emphasizing the vision of a United States that will no longer attempt to impose democracy and democratic values on other countries, but seek economic and military partnerships that offer value to both sides.

While Hegseth pledged American support for allies in the region, he built upon that theme by telling allies they weren’t spending enough on their own defense at a time when the U.S. is increasingly looking inward, moving troops and equipment to its southern border with Mexico instead of new deployments overseas.

“Credible deterrence starts at home. It starts at our borders,” he said. “We have put troops on the Southwest border and are driving towards 100 percent operational control there.”

The stop in Singapore marked the secretary’s second trip to the region since his January swearing-in. It followed a trip to NATO headquarters in Europe where he admonished allies for not spending enough on defense, a criticism he imported to Singapore.

“It’s hard to believe, a little bit, after some trips to Europe, that I’m saying this, but thanks to President Trump, Asian allies should look to countries in Europe as a new found example,” Hegseth said.

The NATO goal of spending at least 2 percent of GDP on defense has been updated by the Trump team to a whopping 5 percent, a goal that will be extremely difficult for most allies to achieve, including the United States, which spends about 3.5 percent on defense.

Hegseth brought that message of more spending with him to Asia, telling the audience that “we ask, and indeed we insist, that our allies and partners do their part on defense. Sometimes that means having uncomfortable and tough conversations.”

On the spending issue, Hegseth remained frank. “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,” he said.

That message will rankle some allies in the region, as Australia is spending billions on a partnership with the U.S. and U.K. to build a new fleet of nuclear-powered submarines, and Japan and South Korea have invested heavily in their own militaries in recent years. South Korea has emerged as a defense-industrial powerhouse, selling artillery and air defense systems across Europe.

Hegseth also suggested that European nations should focus their efforts on securing European territory, allowing the U.S. to focus more on the Indo-Pacific. “We’re pushing our allies in Europe to own more of their security — to invest in their own defense … Thanks to President Trump, they are stepping up,” Hegseth said.