{"id":870,"date":"2026-05-30T19:07:26","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T19:07:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=870"},"modified":"2026-05-30T19:07:26","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T19:07:26","slug":"hegseth-u-s-reverting-to-cold-war-balance-of-power-security-strategy-in-asia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=870","title":{"rendered":"Hegseth: U.S. reverting to Cold War balance of power security strategy in Asia"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The U.S. will prevent China from dominating the Indo-Pacific by enhancing military power and increasing backing from regional allies but with less confrontational rhetoric, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a major speech Saturday.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump blasts performers exiting Freedom 250 concerts<\/a><\/p>\n

Mr. Hegseth also told reporters in Singapore at a defense leaders\u2019 conference that U.S. policy toward Taiwan remains unchanged but sidestepped questions about whether U.S. arms sales to the island are being held up to curry favor with China.<\/p>\n

Increased U.S. dialogue with Chinese officials and military-to-military discussions also will seek to promote \u201cclarity\u201d of U.S. intentions and reduce the risk of conflict, the secretary said at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s our essential responsibility at the department to ensure that the president is always negotiating from a position of unquestionable strength in order to sustain peace here in the Pacific and around the globe,\u201d Mr. Hegseth said in outlining what he called an \u201cAmerica first, peace through strength\u201d policy.<\/p>\n

Dialogue with China is \u201cnot a sign of capitulating in either direction, but a practical guardrail\u201d to improve ties, he said.<\/p>\n

Military exchanges with China in the past have been criticized by some as producing little in the way of better understanding or action.<\/p>\n

Despite a buildup of American and allied military power in the region, military dominance in Asia is no longer U.S. policy in favor of what Mr. Hegseth said is a realistic, balance-of-power approach with China in maintaining regional peace and stability.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we seek and what the president has constantly articulated is a genuinely stable equilibrium that works for Americans as well as our ally, a favorable but durable balance of power in which no state, including China, can impose its hegemony and hold the security or prosperity of our nation and our allies in question,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The new approach reflects recent demands from Beijing for the U.S. to adopt \u201crespect\u201d for the Chinese communist system.<\/p>\n

Balance of power was a central feature of the Cold War and was rejected under President Ronald Reagan in favor of rolling back and ultimately defeating the communist Soviet Union.<\/p>\n

American power will be used to maintain a balance of power that Mr. Hegseth described as \u201cnot too disruptive,\u201d Mr. Hegseth said, noting relations with Beijing are better than in the past.<\/p>\n

U.S. interests in the Pacific are significant but will now be \u201cscoped and reasonable\u201d to support the balanced approach respecting sovereignty, allowing commerce to flourish and granting nations the freedom to form dominance, the secretary said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the balance America upholds and will not allow others to overturn,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Stepped-up defense spending by regional allies is also key to what the secretary called the America First security policy in Asia.<\/p>\n

Those building up their militaries in the region include South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Australia and India, he said.<\/p>\n

Regional states have been alarmed by China\u2019s historically large military buildup and the expansion of its military activities in the region and beyond, Mr. Hegseth said.<\/p>\n

A Pacific dominated by a regional dominant power like China would undermine the power balance the U.S. is seeking to preserve, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Department of War is working with the utmost focus to prevent any such unraveling,\u201d Mr. Hegseth said.<\/p>\n

The secretary said America is a Pacific power and will maintain that muscle to back its interests in the region.<\/p>\n

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\u201cNow, to get that job done, we are changing the playbook. The era of performative outrage is over where Washington issues loud diplomatic protests that signal virtue but do not project capabilities,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cGoing forward, we will be intentional about how and when we communicate, and we will lead first and foremost with actions.\u201d<\/p>\n

U.S. military forces will focus on deploying lethal capabilities, strategic discipline and businesslike cooperation instead of \u201cempty rhetoric and peacocking,\u201d Mr. Hegseth said.<\/p>\n

U.S. adversaries will then be faced with American hard power, collective military readiness and strong resolve, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose who long for peace must prepare for war. From my first platoon to the first island chain. Let that remain at the forefront of our minds, because we all long for peace,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The first island chain is the flashpoint of Chinese military expansion from its coast through the line of islands stretching from Japan through the South China Sea.<\/p>\n

On Taiwan, Mr. Hegseth was asked by a reporter after the speech why he scaled back rhetoric on China and did not mention the island democracy.<\/p>\n

Last year at the conference, Mr. Hegseth warned that a Chinese attack on Taiwan was \u201cimminent.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think our message today was very much in sync with precisely where the president wants to go, which is we\u2019re going to be strong, but we can speak softly while carrying that big stick and be very clear about the fact that there are places where we can work together with China,\u201d Mr. Hegseth said, adding that \u201cwe respect their ambitions.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added, \u201cWe know that they have a significant military buildup that comes with considerations we have to take as a sovereign nation to ensure that we\u2019re prepared for any possible contingency. And at the same time, our position hasn\u2019t changed on Taiwan.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Hegseth did not respond when asked if the U.S. plans to hold back a pending $14 billion arms package to Taiwan.<\/p>\n

President Trump said in May after his summit in Beijing that he\u2019s considering holding up the arms package and plans to talk to Taiwan\u2019s President Lai Ching-te about it.<\/p>\n

Defensive U.S. arms sales are mandated under the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act to prevent the island from being annexed by China.<\/p>\n

Mr. Hegseth also praised Mr. Trump\u2019s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping as setting a new chapter in relations to \u201cdeconflict.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new approach \u201cdoesn\u2019t necessarily signal a sea change in those relations or how they see the world, and that\u2019s what the president said also, but it\u2019s what I think everyone would like to see in that context,\u201d the secretary said.<\/p>\n

On Iran, Mr. Hegseth said any agreement with the Islamic republic to end the war and open the Strait of Hormuz will be reached only if it\u2019s a \u201cgreat deal for our country\u201d and global security.<\/p>\n

Mr. Trump said Iran can make a deal or deal with the U.S. military in stepped-up operations.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd we are prepared, we\u2019re postured even stronger today than we were on Day One to address it that way, if we have to, but he\u2019d prefer not to,\u201d Mr. Hegseth said.<\/p>\n

Read more DOJ reportedly subpoenas X, Reddit for data on users critical of immigration efforts<\/a><\/p>\n

America aims for a complete reversal of Iran\u2019s nuclear program, he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The U.S. will prevent China from dominating the Indo-Pacific by enhancing military power and increasing backing from regional allies but with less confrontational rhetoric, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a major speech Saturday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":853,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,8],"tags":[12,676],"class_list":["post-870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-security","tag-china","tag-pete-hegseth"],"yoast_head":"\nHegseth: U.S. reverting to Cold War balance of power security strategy in Asia - Home Buyer Relocation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=870\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hegseth: U.S. reverting to Cold War balance of power security strategy in Asia - 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