U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, in an appearance in Singapore, has vowed “devastating consequences” if China moves to “conquer” Taiwan, according to multiple published reports.
The Pentagon’s chief’s comments appeared aimed at assuaging concerns in Asia about the nation’s commitment to preserving security in the region, The Wall Street Journal reported.
In what the Journal described as Hegseth’s “most assertive” comment so far on Taiwan, the defense secretary said threats to the island by China “could be imminent.”
The U.S. goal is to “prevent war” through deterrence with its allies. But if that fails, and “if called upon by my commander in chief, we are prepared to do what the Department of Defense does best, to fight and win decisively,” Hegseth said, according to the Journal.
Hegseth said the region is a “priority” for the Republican White House. He made his remarks at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, “a security conference attended by many top defense officials from Asian and Western countries,” according to the Journal.
“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. We are not going to sugarcoat it. The threat China poses is real. And it could be imminent,” Hegseth said without outlining what those consequences would be.
At the same time, he said that “Communist China will not invade Taiwan on [President Trump’s] watch.”
Hegseth didn’t offer details on how the U.S. might respond to Chinese aggression against Taiwan, according to the Journal. China has claimed Taiwan as its territory, and it has refused to rule out using force to take control of the self-governed island, the newspaper reported.
