June 4, 2025
The Maturing of Defense Secretary Hegseth
By William R. Hawkins
On May 31, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth spoke at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. This is the world’s highest profile international meeting of national security officials; and certainly the most watched, because it was the debut appearance of a key cabinet member of President Donald Trump’s second term. Hegseth’s appointment was controversial. He is a decorated combat veteran who stressed the “warrior ethos” against various “woke” notions that degraded the military profession. But as a Fox news anchor, he had expressed naïve strategic views that tended toward isolationism. His message in Singapore calmed these fears.
His primary focus was on threats from China. “It has to be clear to all that Beijing is credibly preparing to potentially use military force to alter the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific. We know. It's public that Xi has ordered his military to be capable of invading Taiwan by 2027,” he warned. Then he pledged “Again, to be clear: any attempt by Communist China to conquer Taiwan by force would result in devastating consequences for the Indo-Pacific and the world. There's no reason to sugarcoat it. The threat China poses is real.” Hegseth also pointed out that Beijing has ambitions across the region, from the Philippines to Japan.
America is responding by increasing the forward deployment of forces in the region, not just the Navy which President Trump started to expand in his first term and is accelerating in his second with a trillion-dollar defense budget, but also with units from all the services. The Marines just deployed a new anti-ship missile battery in Luzon that not only protects the Philippines but would also reach a Chinese Taiwan invasion force. “We must ensure that China cannot dominate us -- or our allies and partners. Maintaining the status quo requires strength. That's just a rational, common-sense goal that all should be able to live with” declared Hegseth.
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https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2025/06/the_maturing_of_defense_secretary_hegseth.html
