US defense secretary warns Indo-Pacific allies that China’s army is ‘rehearsing for the real deal’

On Saturday, US Defense Secretary Higseth reassured the allies in India and the Pacific Ocean that they will not leave alone to face the growing military and economic pressure from China, while insisting that they also contribute to defending them.

He said that Washington will strengthen its defenses abroad to confront what the Pentagon sees rapid threats by Beijing, especially in its aggressive stance towards Taiwan. China has conducted many exercises to test the form on which the siege will appear on the island of autonomy, which Beijing claims that the United States has pledged to defend it.

Higseth said in a major speech at a security conference in Singapore, that the Chinese army “is training on the real deal.” “We will not go to sugar – the threat that China poses is real. It may be imminent.”

The head of the Chinese delegation accused Higseth of conducting “baseless accusations.”

“Some claims are completely fabricated, and some distorted facts, some of which are cases of the thief who cries,” said Admiral in Admiral Higgfing, Vice President of the National Defense University in China. He did not make specific objections.

He said: “These measures are nothing more than attempts to raise trouble, incite the division and move the confrontation to destabilize the Asia and the Pacific region.”

Higseth says that China is training to invade Taiwan

China has a declared goal to ensure that its army is able to take Taiwan by force if necessary by 2027, which is the deadline that experts see as an ambitious goal than the deadline for difficult war.

China has also built sophisticated artificial islands in the South China Sea to support new military outposts and developed very sophisticated capabilities of speed and space, which leads the United States to create space -based “golden dome” missile defenses.

Speaking in the Shangri La dialogue, a global security conference hosted by the International Institute for Security Studies, Higseth said that China is no longer just building its military forces to take Taiwan, it is “effective training for that, every day.”

Higseth also called China for its aspirations in Latin America, especially its efforts to increase its influence on the Panama channel.

He urged the Indian and Pacific countries to increase defense spending at levels similar to 5 % of GDP on European countries to contribute.

“We must all do our role,” said Higseth.

In the aftermath of the speech, the senior European Union diplomat Kaja Calass pushed Higseth that European countries should focus their defensive efforts in their region and leave the Indian and Pacific regions more than the United States, with the presence of North Korea forces fighting Russia and China that support Moscow, European and Asian security.

Questions about our commitment to India and the Pacific

He also repeated a pledge from previous departments to strengthen the US military in the Indian Pacific Ocean to provide a more powerful deterrent. While each of the Obama and Biden departments also committed to the mutation to the Pacific Ocean and the influence of new military agreements throughout the region, no complete transformation has been achieved.

Instead, American military resources were withdrawn from the Indian Pacific region regularly to support military needs in the Middle East and Europe, especially since the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. In the first few months of President Donald Trump’s term, this was also the case.

In the past few months, the Trump administration has taken the national missile defense battalion from India and the Pacific in order to send it to the Middle East, a huge logistical operation that requires 73 plane flights from military shipping, and returned the Coast Guard to the United States to help defend the borders, Mexico and Mexico.

HegSeth was asked why the United States withdraws these resources if the Indian and the Pacific is the theater of priority. He did not respond directly, but he said that the transformation of resources was necessary to defend against the Houthi missile attacks launched from Yemen, and to promote protection against illegal immigration to the United States

At the same time, he stressed the need for American allies and partners to intensify their spending and defensive preparations, saying that the United States was not interested in going alone.

He said: “Ultimately, a strong, firm network capable of allies and partners is a major strategic feature.” “China envies what we have together, and sees what we can collectively tolerate to defense, but it is up to all of us to ensure that we live to these capabilities through investment.”

The Indian and Pacific states in which the balancing relations with both the United States and China have been buried over the years. Beijing is the main commercial partner for many, but he is also afraid as a regional opening, partly due to his aggressive demands for natural resources such as critical fish fisheries.

Higseth warned that playing both sides, searching for American military support and Chinese economic support carries risks.

“The economic dependence on China only deepens its malicious influence and complicates our defense decision during times of tension,” said Higseth.

When asked how this statement would be compatible with Trump’s threat of sharp tariffs in the region, Hugsith was “in the tanks, not trade.”

But the Democratic senator in Illinois Tami Dakright, a part of the congress delegation that Changry did not, objected to pressure on the regional allies.

“The United States is not asking people to choose between us and the People’s Republic of China,” said Dakright, in reference to the People’s Republic of China.

Australia’s Defense Minister Richard Marles welcomed Higseth that the Indian and the Pacific was a priority of an American strategy and agreed that Australia and other countries needed to play its role.

He said: “The reality is that there is no effective balance in power in this region in the absence of the United States, but we cannot leave it to the United States alone.”

However, Marles suggested that the Trump administration’s aggressive policies were in reverse results. “The shock and turmoil of high definitions were expensive and annoying.”

China sends a minimum delegation

China usually sends its defense minister to the conference, but Dong Jun did not attend this year in crushing to the United States on the Trump’s irregular war. His absence was something that the United States delegation said was aimed at benefiting from it.

“We are here this morning. And someone else is not.”

In response to a question from a member of the Chinese delegation, how the United States will remain if Asian alliances, like ASEAN, have differences with Washington, Higseth said that the United States will not be bound by “the limits of how previous administrations looks at this region.”

“We open our arms to the countries through the spectrum-traditional allies, and the unconventional allies,” he said.

He said that American support will not require local governments to be in line with the West on cultural or climatic issues.

This story was originally shown on Fortune.com

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2025-05-31 14:41:00