Hegseth's remarks came during his first participation in the Shangri-La Dialogue, a security forum held annually in Singapore and considered the most prominent Asian forum bringing together defense ministers, military chiefs, experts, and diplomats from the region.
"There's no need to downplay the situation," Hegseth said. "The threat posed by China is real and potentially imminent." He added that any Chinese attempt to invade Taiwan "would have dire consequences, not just for the region, but for the entire international system."
He affirmed the Trump administration's commitment to preventing such a scenario , noting that the Indo-Pacific region is a strategic priority for the current US president's administration, and that Washington is monitoring Chinese military movements.
The US Secretary of State noted that "Beijing is reliably preparing to use military force to change the balance of power in the region," which, he said, requires collective action from the United States' allies.
In this context, Hegseth called on European countries to focus on security challenges on their own continent, allowing the United States to focus its efforts on confronting the growing threat in the two-ocean region, while also calling for greater contributions from Asian allies.
This comes amid a notable absence of official Chinese participation in the forum, as Beijing decided not to send its Defense Minister Dong Jun, instead representing an academic delegation.
China considers Taiwan's new leader an "independence supporter" and a "separatist," and Chinese officials had referred to him several times before the election using terms such as "irreformable" and "troublemaker."
Beijing claims Taiwan, an island with a population of 24 million, as a breakaway province, while Taipei has insisted on its independence since 1949.
China does not recognize Taiwan's independence, considers it part of its territory, and rejects any attempts to secede. In contrast, Taiwan does not recognize the central government in Beijing.
