The Secretary of War of the United States, Pete Hegseth, stated this Saturday, 30, that Washington remains committed to the security of the Indo-Pacific and seeks to preserve a favorable balance of power in the region, although it adopted a more moderate tone towards China during the Shangri-La Dialogue, in Singapore.
The speech came two weeks after the meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing. Hegseth, who accompanied the visit, said that the two leaders agreed to maintain a relationship of strategic stability based on reciprocity and the search for agreements when there are converging interests.
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Despite the sign of dialogue, the secretary stressed that the American priority continues to be preventing Beijing from achieving a dominant position in the Indo-Pacific. According to him, there is a justified concern about Chinese military strengthening and the expansion of its activities in the region. “We share a clear-eyed assessment of this security environment and a mutual understanding that a Pacific dominated by any hegemon would upset the regional balance of power and undermine the stability we all seek to preserve,” he said.
The statements partially contrast with those made by Hegseth in the previous edition of the forum, when he warned that China was not only expanding its military capacity to take Taiwan, but also “is actively training to do so, every day.
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Hours after the speech, Chinese Major General Meng Xiangqing praised the results of the meeting between Xi and Trump and stated that the understanding reached by the two presidents should guide bilateral relations for the coming years.
At the event, Hegseth also reiterated that there had been no change in American policy towards Taiwan, an island claimed by Beijing. Asked about a possible US$14 billion arms sales package for Taipei, not yet approved by Trump, he limited himself to saying that the decision would be up to the president. “Any decision on future arms sales to Taiwan, as the president said, will be up to him,” he declared.
*WITH INFORMATION FROM ASSOCIATED PRESS
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