Hegseth says US will not be ‘pushed out’ of Indo-Pacific, calls on allies to boost defense spending
“China has demonstrated that it wants to fundamentally alter the region's status quo," Hegseth said at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore. "We cannot look away and we cannot ignore it.”
By Mike Yeo
on May 31, 2025 at 10:53 AM
SINGAPORE — US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth used a key address here in Singapore to assert that while the US doesn’t seek war with China, it also will not be pushed out of the “critical” Indo-Pacific theatre. Nor will it allow its partners and allies in the region to be “subordinated and intimidated.”
“China has demonstrated that it wants to fundamentally alter the region’s status quo,” Hegseth said to a large audience at the opening plenary session of the of the annual Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore. “We cannot look away and we cannot ignore it.”
Nevertheless, he called on countries in the region should follow their European counterparts and increase their defense spending — in line with the Trump administration’s vocal call for global partners to lean less on direct US support.
https://breakingdefense.com/2025/05/hegseth-says-us-will-not-be-pushed-out-of-indo-pacific-calls-on-allies-to-boost-defense-spending/
