The U.S. aims to sustain equilibrium in the Asia-Pacific region and is working toward a situation in which its allies are more capable, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said, while also warning China not to disrupt the status quo.
“The bedrock of partnership is alignment on national interests,” Hegseth said in remarks at the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Saturday. The U.S. will take a “strong, quiet, clear” approach to alliances, he said.
He praised countries such as the Philippines, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore for stepping up and sharing the burdens of defense and alliances.
Vietnam and India also received call-outs to improve their military readiness.
While Hegseth said the U.S.’s relationship with China is the strongest it’s been in a long time, he also directly called out the country.
Washington seeks “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,” he said.
He claimed that there is also “rightful alarm” in the Asia-Pacific region regarding China’s military buildup, and the expansion of its military activities in the region and beyond.
“While a decent peace is our goal, make no mistake, America is a Pacific nation, and we insist that China respect our longstanding position in the region.”
U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth, a Democrat from Illinois, expressed skepticism about the remarks.
“The latest national defense strategy drafted by [President Donald Trump] and Mr. Hegseth downgrades the primacy, the importance, of the Indo-Pacific,” she said in a media roundtable at the Shangri-La Dialogue, adding that in Trump’s first term the importance of the region had been reaffirmed. “He talks about `we’re going to be quiet,’ I think it’s actually a euphemism for no top-level interests other than cozying up to [China].”
Hegseth had some choice words for Europe, complaining that allies in the region hadn’t pulled their weight.
Alliances should happen “without the drama and the moralizing,” he said. “Europe should take note.”
The secretary also said that “for too long, the security of this region has rested disproportionately on American military power, while many of our allies and partners allowed their own defense capabilities to atrophy.”
Model allies
Hegseth said that the U.S. demands 3.5% of GDP as defense spending from its allies and partners, and added that Washington will prioritize working with these “model allies.”
“For those nations, we are moving them to the front of the line: expedited arms sales, deep industrial-based collaboration, expanded intelligence sharing, the list goes on that benefits many.”
He also warned that “allies who refuse to step up and carry their own weight for our collective defense will face a clear shift in how we do business.”
Under U.S. President Donald Trump, the U.S. has little hesitation in calling out allies it sees as not carrying their weight, and making moves that many countries have seen as upending the post-World War II global order. Many leaders have said they worry they can no longer count on the U.S. as a reliable ally.
Before his second term, Trump claimed he told a NATO ally that Washington would not protect countries who didn’t “pay.”
Hegseth also said that “America first does not mean America alone,” adding that alliances are true partnerships measured by the sovereign strength and capabilities each member brings to bear.
—CNBC’s Joanna Ossinger contributed to this article.
