Pentagon chief worries about China’s growing military power and urges Asian allies to spend more on defense
The head of the Pentagon wants Asian allies to spend more on defense because he is worried about China’s growing military power.
On Saturday, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned that China’s growing military power is making the Indo-Pacific area less stable and asked allies to spend more on defense and work together more on security.
Hegseth said that countries in the region should be worried about Beijing’s military growth at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. This is Asia’s most important security gathering for defense officials, military leaders, and diplomats.
He said, “There is good reason to be worried about China’s historic military buildup and the growth of its military activities in the region and beyond.”
Hegseth said that to stop aggression and keep the balance of power in the area, there needed to be a stronger and more self-reliant network of allies.
Hegseth said, “A Pacific dominated by any hegemon would upset the balance of power in the region.” “No country, not even China, can assert its dominance and threaten the safety or well-being of our country and our allies.”
The head of the Pentagon said that the US plans to spend $1.5 trillion on its military and that its Asian friends and partners will do the same. This would bring the US’s total defense spending to 3.5% of its GDP.
Hegseth said, “Less Shangri-La, more ships and subs.”
He also said that the US’s partners wanted peace rather than conflict.
“What they want is strength that is disciplined, resolve that is steady, and leadership that is sure of itself enough to walk softly while carrying a big stick,” the US said.
Hegseth took a more measured approach to relations between Washington and Beijing, even though he warned about China’s growing military power. He said that relations were getting better and that military-to-military talks had grown.
“We’re increasing our meetings with our Chinese counterparts by maintaining open lines of communication between our militaries.”
Zhou Bo, a senior fellow at Tsinghua University and a retired senior colonel in China’s People’s Liberation Army, said that ties between the US and China are “complicated” in response to Hegseth’s comments.
Zhou, on the other hand, said that Hegseth’s comments showed a more positive attitude than in past years.
“There are open lines of communication between both sides. The situation is not as dire as the media makes it out to be,” Zhou said.
He also said that Hegseth had set “a much better tone” than he did last year, saying that the improvement was because of Trump’s trip to China.
For the second year in a row, China’s defense minister did not go to the Shangri-La Dialogue. Beijing had earlier said that Hegseth said hurtful things at last year’s meeting.
