Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Asia’s military leaders on Saturday that America would put its most committed partners at “the front of the line” for U.S. support, suggesting that countries must vie for American attention even as many look for more help to counter an emboldened China.
In a region already concerned that America may be too focused elsewhere and providing too many concessions to China, Mr. Hegseth offered assurance that the United States would stay proactive and protective — but also warned that American help would be conditional.
“President Trump believes in helping countries that help themselves,” Mr. Hegseth said, speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual security forum in Singapore, adding, “The era of the United States subsidizing the defense of wealthy nations is over.”
Mr. Hegseth repeatedly defined the American approach as “strong, quiet and clear.” On the most contentious issues facing the region, he was almost entirely silent.
In his prepared remarks, Mr. Hegseth omitted any mention of Taiwan, which is anxiously waiting for clarity on U.S. weapons sales as it contends with China’s expanding military strength. He leavened his description of China as a rival or threat with milder language. And after failing to address the impact of the war in Iran, including an energy shortage that has devastated many Asian nations, he said in response to a question that conflicts in the Middle East should be decoupled from discussion of Taiwan.
“Big stick, speak softly,” Mr. Hegseth said, summarizing the American approach. “We will prioritize lethal capabilities, strategic discipline and businesslike cooperation over empty rhetoric and peacocking.”
It was Mr. Hegseth’s second appearance at the forum. His speech in an ice-cold hotel ballroom, especially with its omission of any mention of Taiwan, represented a break from his more heated comments last year.
In 2025, he told the assembly of Asian military leaders that “China’s military harasses Taiwan.”
“The threat China poses is real,” Mr. Hegseth said at the time, warning that “any attempt by Communist China to conquer Taiwan by force would result in devastating consequences for the Indo-Pacific and the world.”
He mentioned Taiwan, an island democracy that China claims as lost territory, five times in that speech.
This year, he praised a long list of partners, including South Korea, Japan, Australia and Vietnam, for expanding their military capabilities and embracing collective defense. Taiwan, which recently raised military spending to more than 3 percent of its gross domestic product, was not mentioned.
Senator Tammy Duckworth, an Illinois Democrat and veteran of the Iraq War, said the speech would intensify concerns in the region, fueling worries that a recent summit between President Trump and Xi Jinping, China’s top leader, ended with too many American concessions, including a new willingness to let Taiwan’s defense deals be negotiated in leader discussions.
“I am concerned that it seems like our president is entering into policies where he’s doing what Beijing wants us to do,” Senator Duckworth said after Mr. Hegseth’s speech.
While maintaining that there is bipartisan support for further weapons sales to Taiwan, including a possible $14 billion package that is waiting for a decision from the White House, Senator Duckworth criticized Mr. Hegseth’s “speak softly” approach.
“He talks about being cool and be quiet — I think it’s actually euphemism for no top-level interest, other than cozying up to the P.R.C.,” she said, referring to the People’s Republic of China.
Mr. Hegseth suggested that the relationship with China had shifted in a positive direction. He praised Mr. Trump for meeting with Mr. Xi and re-establishing military-to-military discussions.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, relations between the United States and China are better than they have been in many years,” Mr. Hegseth said.
Da Wei, a professor of international relations at Tsinghua University, said the speech built on the détente established by the two leaders at their meeting in Beijing, and could carry momentum into upcoming meetings.
“I can feel a sense of relief from the region, seeing the two elephants developing a stable bilateral relation,” he said.
Taiwan, however, remains a primary concern for many countries.
The island has for decades relied on U.S. military and political support to counter pressure from China, which has said it could take Taiwan by armed force.
But Mr. Trump created a ripple of uncertainty about his stance on Taiwan this month. In comments to reporters, Mr. Trump said that he and Mr. Xi had discussed America’s possible arms sales to Taiwan “in great detail,” and he called them a “bargaining chip” with Beijing, potentially breaking with a U.S. commitment not to consult with China on weapons sales to Taiwan.
Answering a question from the audience in Singapore, Mr. Hegseth rejected reports that Washington had paused a $14 billion arms sale to Taiwan because of the demands of the war against Iran.
When asked about Taiwan and arms sales at a Senate committee hearing this month, the acting U.S. Navy secretary, Hung Cao, said, “We’re doing a pause in order to make sure we have the munitions we need.” But Mr. Hegseth denied that there was a link between the fate of the proposed $14 billion arms package and the war in Iran.
“Hung Cao is fantastic, but I would not couple the two in any way at all,” he said. “Any decision about future Taiwan arms sales, as the president said, will rest with him.”
It is far from clear that such comments calmed the nerves of those who worry that China could be emboldened by the softer American tone. Washington’s push for other countries to build their own defenses is also sometimes interpreted as the prelude to a deeper U.S. retreat.
Ankit Panda, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said Mr. Hegseth’s comments “missed the core demand from allies at the moment, which is clarity on where the software and hardware of their alliances with the United States can meaningfully expand.”
The administration’s approach to defusing tensions with China still faces many obstacles, above all the gulf of distrust between the militaries of China and the United States.
Incidents of aircraft and ships from the People’s Liberation Army of China moving dangerously close to American military aircraft and ships in the skies and seas off China have declined since 2024, after complaints from Washington. But Chinese forces have continued to buzz and harass the planes and ships of U.S. allies, such as Japan and Australia.
The United States’ efforts to step up its military presence across Asia by deploying more missiles to Japan and the Philippines have also drawn sharp warnings from Beijing.
Ely Ratner, who was the assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs during the Biden administration, said that pattern might continue for now.
“Trump’s accommodation of China may yield more military engagement in the near term, but it will also invite greater P.L.A. coercion against U.S. allies,” he said, referring to the Chinese military. “That’s not a recipe for strategic stability.”
