Hegseth tells Philippines the US will ramp up deterrence against China
Mr Hegseth, who was visiting the Philippines, blamed the previous Biden administration for insufficient actions that emboldened aggressors.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Friday that the Trump administration would work with allies to ramp up deterrence against threats across the world, including China’s aggression in the South China Sea.
Mr Hegseth, who was visiting the Philippines, blamed the previous Biden administration for insufficient actions that emboldened aggressors such as China over the years.
He said the US military was being rebuilt under President Donald Trump and was re-establishing its “warrior ethos” in the region, but did not elaborate.
“What we’re dealing with right now is many years of deferred maintenance, of weakness, that we need to re-establish strength and deterrence in multiple places around the globe,” Mr Hegseth told a news conference with his Philippine counterpart, Gilberto Teodoro, after meeting President Ferdinand Marcos Jr in Manila.
“There’s a long line of countries in the past who have attempted to test US resolve,” Mr Hegseth added. “We are resolved at this time … to work with our partners.”
Earlier, he told Mr Marcos that deterrence was particularly needed in the Indo-Pacific region “considering the threats from the communist Chinese”.
“Friends need to stand shoulder to shoulder to deter conflict, to ensure that there is free navigation whether you call it the South China Sea or the West Philippine Sea,” he told Mr Marcos.
The US was not gearing up for war, Mr Hegseth said, while underscoring that peace would be won “through strength”.
The Philippines was the first stop in Mr Hegseth’s first trip to Asia. He is due to travel next to Japan, another staunch US ally.
Ahead of his visit to the region, China called the United States a “predator” and an unreliable ally.
Hegseth said the Trump administration would commit more security assistance to the Philippines in addition to a 500 million-dollar (£386 million) fund to help the Philippine military modernise.
The US funding was first announced by the previous Biden administration.
