Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sounded the alarm on Chinese military plans to attack Taiwan and said any assault on the island democracy would have devastating consequences.
“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,” Mr. Hegseth told the annual conference of defense leaders called the Shangri La Dialogue. “There’s no reason to sugarcoat it. The threat China poses is real.”
President Xi Jinping has ordered the People’s Liberation Army to be ready by 2027 to assault this island, which China claims as its territory, Mr. Hegseth said.
President Trump had declared that China will not conduct a military invasion of Taiwan while he is president, Mr. Hegseth said during a major speech to the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual conference of defense and military leaders.
The comments were the clearest indication to date that the Trump administration would come to Taiwan’s defense if the island were invaded by China.
The defense secretary’s remarks come as China has stepped up aggressive military activities in the South China Sea near the Philippines, around Taiwan, and further north near Japan and South Korea, all key U.S. allies.
Mr. Hegseth warned that a “massive military build-up and growing willingness to use military force” are signs Beijing is working on becoming a major hegemonic power in Asia and wants to dominate the entire region.
China is claiming an estimated 90% of the strategic South China Sea despite an international tribunal ruling that the claim is illegitimate.
The waterway sees an estimated $5 trillion annually in international trade and China has encroached on the sea through reclaiming disputed islands and deploying anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles on some of them over the past decade.
China has sent its defense minister to the Singapore meeting in the past but this year did not even dispatch a senior general or admiral, an indication the Chinese military is less inclined to engage with regional military and defense chiefs.
The defense secretary said the United States is not seeking a war with communist China.
“But we will not be pushed out of this critical region,” he said. “And we will not let our allies and partners be subordinated.”
The South China Sea, in particular, is an area of increasing tensions as China is seeking to intimidate others in the region, he said, citing Beijing’s use of water cannons, ship-to-ship rammings, and illegal ship boardings against U.S. allies.
Chinese military forces also are illegally seizing and militarizing disputed islands in the South China Sea, Mr. Hegseth said.
“These actions reveal a lack of respect for neighbors and they challenge sovereignty, freedom of navigation, and overflight,” he said.
U.S. military forces are closely watching destabilizing Chinese actions, Mr. Hegseth said, warning that “any unilateral attempt in the South China Sea to change the status quo by force or coercion is unacceptable.”
Mr. Hegseth called Chinese aggression in the region an urgent wake up call, noting vast and sophisticated cyberattacks to steal industrial technology and intrude on critical infrastructure networks, including in the United States.
“These actions not only compromise our countries, but endanger the lives of our citizens,” he said.
Regarding Taiwan, the Chinese military is engaged in military harassment of the democratic island that Beijing regards as a breakaway province.
“These activities have been paired with China’s rapid military modernization and buildup – including massive investments in nuclear weapons, hypersonic missiles, and amphibious assault capabilities,” Mr. Hegseth said.
The activities make clear that the Chinese military is “concretely and credibly preparing to use military force to alter the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific,” he said.
China is building military capabilities to invade Taiwan at “breakneck speed” through training and rehearsals for what Mr. Hegseth call “the real deal” of military action.
Mr. Hegseth warned Asian leaders at the conference they should not seek both economic cooperation with China and defense partnerships with the United States.
Economic dependence on China will deepen Beijing’s malignant influence in the region and complicates American decisions during periods of tension or conflict.
The Chinese Communist Party is using its economic power to increase its control over the region, he said.
“Nobody knows what China will ultimately do,” he said. “But they are preparing. And we must, therefore, be ready as well. Urgency and vigilance is our only option.”
Mr. Hegseth had opened the conference Friday by establishing that theme.
“The United States is committed to working with our allies and partners to deter aggression by Communist China in the Indo Pacific,” Mr. Hegseth said in an opening session.
In Saturday’s speech, Mr. Hegseth said the administration will prevent an attack on Taiwan through strengthening military deterrence in what he called peace through strength, a former policy of the administration of President Ronald Reagan, that the Pentagon chief said will be carried out in both overt and covert ways.
“But if deterrence fails, and if called upon by my commander in chief, we are prepared to do what the Department of Defense does best – fight and win — decisively,” Mr. Hegseth said.
The defense secretary repeated his earlier emphasis on rebuilding the military, noting the administration’s proposed defense budget of over $1 trillion and programs like the Golden Dome missile defense, new F-47 fighter jets, new B-21 strategic bombers, and new submarines and destroyers.
When American adversaries understand that the U.S. military is armed with advanced weapons and capabilities wielded by warriors, they will be less likely to challenge the United States on the battlefield, he said.
America is committed to staying active in the Indo-Pacific region, he said, despite having largely ignored the region for a generation, he said.
Mr. Hegseth said the United States is not seeking to dominate or strangle China, nor humiliate Beijing or engage in regime change against its communist government.
“But we must ensure that China cannot dominate us — or our allies and partners,” he said. “That is a rational, common sense goal that all should be able to live with.”
He also assured other Asian nations that the administration is no longer seeking to pressure states in Asia to adopt U.S. policies or ideology.
“We are not here to preach to you about climate change or cultural issues. We are not here to impose our will on you. We are all sovereign nations. We should all be able to choose the future we want to build. We respect you and your traditions. And we want to work with you where our shared interests align,” Mr. Hegseth said.
In addition to recent deployments of new anti-ship missiles in Philippines for exercises, Mr. Hegseth said the Army also plans to conduct its first live-fire test of the new Typhon missile system, which can fire Tomahawk cruise missiles with a range of up to 1,000 miles.
“Deployments like this represent our commitment to the region, and we have many more planned,” he said.
While the much-publicized Golden Dome missile defense system will protect the U.S. homeland against a missile attack, regional missile defense in the Indo-Pacific also is being strengthened, he said.
Missile and air defenses also are being integrated with America’s regional allies, with Japan and Australia as key partners in this effort, and co-production of weapons with also going forward.
On that latter front, Mr. Hegseth announced a new program to work with Australia for P-8 maritime patrol aircraft, an advanced maritime-patrol aircraft.
Small, unmanned aircraft coordination between the U.S. military and regional allies also is being developed, Mr. Hegseth said.
The Pentagon also is bolstering ship-repair facilities in the region, an important step needed in response to any future conflict in the area.
“We must keep moving quickly, though. We face a grave threat and we have no time to waste,” Mr. Hegseth said.
Mr. Hegseth, a former Army officer who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, said the motto of his platoon was that those who long for peace need to prepare for war.
“That is exactly what we’re doing. We are preparing for war, to deter war — to achieve peace through strength,” he said. “Our time is now. The threats we face will not wait. Nor can we.”
• Bill Gertz can be reached at bgertz@washingtontimes.com.
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