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US Defence Secretary Hegseth avoids mentioning Taiwan in Shangri-La speech while demanding allies spend more on defence
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth delivered the keynote address at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore but notably omitted any direct mention of Taiwan, fuelling speculation about a shifting American commitment following last month's Trump-Xi meeting in Beijing. Hegseth declared the US wants 'partners, not protectorates' while pressing Asian allies to boost military spending.
The most closely scrutinised speech at this year's Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore was not remarkable for what it contained but for what it conspicuously left out. United States Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth delivered a forceful keynote address pledging that Washington would not allow any country to establish hegemony over the Indo-Pacific region, yet in a notable departure from the language typically employed by senior American officials at the forum, he made no direct reference to Taiwan throughout the body of his remarks.
The omission sent a ripple through the assembled delegates from across the Asia-Pacific and beyond. Taiwan has for decades been the single most consequential flashpoint in the relationship between Washington and Beijing, and any perceived softening of American rhetorical commitment to the island's security is treated as a significant signal by friends and adversaries alike. The only oblique reference came in a passing mention of the First Island Chain and the work the United States is doing to strengthen defences along that geographic arc.
The speech came in the wake of last month's summit between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, an encounter that has fuelled widespread speculation about whether Washington may be recalibrating its posture on Taiwan as part of a broader reconfiguration of the relationship with China. Reports of paused American arms sales to Taiwan have added fuel to those concerns, though Hegseth maintained when questioned that there was no link between the arms pipeline and the depletion of US weapons stockpiles due to the ongoing war with Iran.
What Hegseth did emphasise with considerable force was the Trump administration's expectation that allies in the region dramatically increase their own defence expenditure. In a formulation that left little room for ambiguity, he declared that the United States wanted partners rather than protectorates, singling out South Korea and Japan for praise on their recent spending commitments while making it clear that even those increases were not considered sufficient by Washington.
For the Chinese delegation watching from the floor, the absence of Taiwan from the Defence Secretary's prepared text will have been noted with interest and quite possibly satisfaction. For countries like Australia, which has staked its strategic future on the reliability of American security guarantees in the western Pacific through arrangements including AUKUS, the speech offered reassurance on the broad commitment to regional presence but left an uncomfortable question mark hanging over the one issue that matters most in determining the balance of power across the Taiwan Strait.