Taiwan · China · Japan · Donald Trump · Pete Hegseth · Singapore · Fortune Technology
Hegseth seeks to convince allies U.S. should stay quiet on Taiwan
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◎ Multiple-sources
At a security forum in Singapore, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sought to convince US allies that staying quiet on Taiwan is the best way to project American strength.
Key facts
- On China, something had clearly changed: this was perhaps the least confronting speech from a US administration in the 23-year history of the Shangri-la Dialogue,” said Rory Medcalf, head
- One major test of whether US policy toward Taiwan remains unchanged in practice will be a stalled $14 billion arms package, which Trump called a “bargaining chip” following his meeting with Xi
- Hegseth over the weekend became the first Pentagon chief in more than a decade to avoid mentioning Taiwan during a speech that lasted about 30 minutes at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue
- Although Beijing’s chief military diplomat skipped the Shangri-La Dialogue for the second year running, Chinese delegates were generally pleased it didn’t turn into a staging ground for US-China
Summary
Hegseth over the weekend became the first Pentagon chief in more than a decade to avoid mentioning Taiwan during a speech that lasted about 30 minutes at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue. The softer language, a sharp contrast from Hegseth’s address a year ago, came weeks after Xi cautioned Donald Trump in Beijing that mishandling the Taiwan situation could lead to “clashes” between the superpowers. “On China, something had clearly changed: this was perhaps the least confronting speech from a US administration in the 23-year history of the Shangri-la Dialogue,” said Rory Medcalf, head of the National Security College at the Australian National University. Speaking to reporters as he left Singapore on Saturday night, Hegseth said US policy toward Taiwan remained the same, with an important caveat.