US defence chief warns Indo-Pacific allies of real and imminent China threat

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth reassured allies in the Indo-Pacific on Saturday that they will not be alone in facing China’s increasing military and economic pressure, while insisting they contribute more to their own defence. According to him, Washington will strengthen its defences to counter what the Pentagon sees as rapidly developing threats by Beijing, especially in its aggressive stance toward Taiwan. China has conducted numerous exercises to test what a blockade would look like of the self-governing island, which Beijing claims as its own and the U.S. has pledged to defend.  Hegseth, in a keynote speech at a security conference in Singapore, stated that “China’s army is rehearsing for the real deal. We are not going to sugarcoat it — the threat China poses is real. And it could be imminent.” However, Adm Hu Gangfeng, vice president of China’s National Defence University, accused Hegseth of “completely fabricating” these claims. 

China has set an aspirational goal of ensuring its military is capable of taking Taiwan by force if necessary by 2027. Hegseth claims that , “China is actively training for it, every day” when speaking at the  Shangri-La Dialogue, a global security conference hosted by the International Institute for Security Studies.  He urged Indo-Pacific countries to increase defence spending to levels similar to the five per cent of their gross domestic product European nations are now pressed to contribute.