Overview

• US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told the Shangri-La Dialogue that China could imminently use military force to alter the Indo-Pacific balance of power, singling out Taiwan as a likely target and urging allies to boost spending to 5 percent of GDP.
• China’s foreign ministry accused Hegseth of promoting a “Cold War mentality” with defamatory allegations and formally protested his warnings, warning the US not to “play with fire” over Taiwan.
• Beijing downgraded its summit presence by sending only Maj. Gen. Hu Gangfeng, vice president of its National Defense University, instead of its defence minister.
• Australia rejected external pressure on its defense policy, committing an additional US$10 billion over four years and planning to raise spending to about 2.3 percent of GDP by the early 2030s.
• ASEAN defense chiefs, led by the Philippines’ Gilberto Teodoro, stressed their countries’ strategic agency and resisted being portrayed as mere pawns in the US-China rivalry.