Chief Pentagon Hugset says we are ready to “fight and defeat” against China

Singapore – Pentagon Chief Pitt Hugset on Saturday warned that the United States was ready to “fight and defeat” against China if they failed to strengthen the Asian allies to strengthen military coordination and increase defense costs.

Speaking at the annual dialogue at the Socke-La defense summit in Singapore, US Secretary of Defense Hugset emphasized Washington’s determination to strengthen the possibilities of defense at a time when the regional war broke out worldwide, including Russia’s war in Ukraine and the military conflict in Gaza.

Playing the US commitment in the Indo-Pacific region, Hugset conducted factories in the absence of Chinese Defense Minister. “We’re here in the morning. Someone is not yet,” he said.

HEGSET urged political and protected leaders in the audience to act with urgency to push away from military pressure in China in the South -Chinese Sea and around Taiwan.

“China has demonstrated that he wants to fundamentally change her status.

“We ask, and indeed, we insist that our allies and partners do their role in defense,” Hugset said, adding that “our defense costs should reflect the danger and threats we face today because it is not cheap.”

A sharp rhetoric goes against the background of increasing traces between Washington and Beijing, as optimism in connection with the transaction after a temporary tariff truce secured earlier this month.

Negotiations on US-China Trading ‘A little hidden said Fox News Thursday.

China’s activity in the South -Chinese Sea undermines sovereignty and threatens the freedom of navigation and overcoming, while its permanent hostilities near Taiwan signal the obvious intention to redo pressure on the island, Pentagon leader said.

He also promised to strengthen the security closer to the US, eliminating China’s “malignant” influence on Panama -Canal. “After all, this is a key area, China has not built this channel. We have done and we will not allow China to arm it and control it.”

China in March said He was ready to fight “any type of war” with the US as president Donald Trump Strengthened economic and political pressure on the country. “If a war is what the United States wants it, whether it is a tariff war, a trade war or any other type of war, we are ready to fight to the end,” the Chinese embassy in the US said.

Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun was missing at the summit this year – for the first time the leading military official of Beijing has missed the event since 2019. Instead, Beijing sent a delegation of lower rank led by Major General Hu Gangfeng, Vice President of the University of National Defense of People’s Liberation.

Major-General Hu is expected to participate in a special session on Saturday on cooperative maritime security in the Asia-Pacific region.

The absence of China’s chief military official raised doubts about whether a bilateral meeting between the Chinese and the US defense officials would be.

Last year, US Secretary of Defense Lloid Austin and Dong held a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Security Forum, where both sides agreed to support military dialogue.

Experts said the absence of Beijing’s Defense Minister could be an attempt to avoid interaction and contradict the US at points such as Taiwan and the South -Kitan Sea.

“Beijing always wants to control the story and discourse. Shangri-La does not allow,” said Drew Thompson, a high-ranking employee of the RSIS Rajaratnam School of International Studies and a former US official.

“When I was in DOD, my PLA colleague once explained to me that they didn’t like it. He said,” We don’t love them to be gladiators who fight each other for the fun of others. We want to deal with our differences in the bilateral level, on the channels, not on public forums, ”he added.

Beijing sees limited strategic benefits by sending its top officials to the annual summit, instead it focused on deepening ties through alternative forums without the presence of the United States, Wu Sinbo, the director of the University of Fudan, the CNBC reported earlier this month. This is according to CNBC’s translation in Mandarin.

US government plans According to Reuters, to increase the sale of weapons in Taiwan to a level exceeding $ 18.3 billion in the first term, exceeding $ 8.4 billion, approved by President Biden, Reuters reports.

The proposed arms packages will focus on economic systems such as missiles, ammunition and drones as part Beijing is increasing the pressure On the Democratic Island.

The US has been an important ally and arms vendor in Taiwan over the decades, and Beijing urged Washington to stop such actions and Stop creating tensions In the Taiwanese Strait.

Beijing claims Taiwan as his territory and promised to “reunite” with a democratically managed island, if necessary. The Taiwan government rejects the requirements of the sovereignty in Beijing.

For many years, China has steadily increasing its military pressure to affirm its sovereignty requirements for Taiwan, regularly sending planes and military -marital courts near the island.

Last year, Dong warned that in the Socke-la dialogue that any forces aimed at the Taiwan separation from China would face “self-destruction” and emphasize the issue of Taiwan as “the core of our basic interest”.

Concerns also arose about Trump’s attachment to the island. On the path of the election campaign, Trump suggested that Taiwan should pay for the US defense and accused him of sending a semiconductor industry to America, raising the alarm in Taipei.