U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s remarks on Taiwan at a top defense summit in Singapore on Saturday appeared calibrated not to derail President Donald Trump’s efforts to manage and improve tensions with China, an analyst at a Chinese state-affiliated think tank told Newsweek.
The address came 15 days after Hegseth joined Trump on his state visit to China, the first by a U.S. president in nine years. Both sides framed the trip as an opportunity to reset the great-power relationship after years of tensions spanning trade, technology supply chains, and the self-ruled island of Taiwan.
President Xi Jinping’s Warning
China claims Taiwan as a rogue province that will “inevitably” be brought into the fold and has not ruled out the use of force to achieve unification.
Trump said he and his Chinese counterpart, President Xi Jinping, “talked the whole night about Taiwan,” and that Xi issued a blunt warning: mishandling the issue could trigger “a very dangerous situation.” After the visit, Trump said he was putting a potential $14 billion arms package on hold, calling it “a very good negotiating chip.”
Newsweek reached out to Taiwan’s foreign ministry with a request for comment.
Hegseth Treads Carefully Around Taiwan
While the defense chief sought to project strength to regional partners and allies in attendance, his tone was notably more restrained than during his fiery address at the same forum last year. He said there was “rightful alarm” in the region but also hailed China-U.S. relations under Trump as “better than they’ve been in many years.”
On Taiwan in particular, he warned that a Chinese attack could be “imminent.”
This time around, though, he did not mention Taiwan by name, though he stressed that the U.S. national security strategy for the region centers on deterrence, making conflict as unattractive as possible through “denial along the First Island Chain”—a strategy he said ensures “aggression is infeasible, escalation unattractive, and war deemed irrational.”
The First Island Chain is a string of islands stretching from Japan south to Borneo, that the Pentagon considers key to constraining Chinese military forces in the event of a conflict.
Arms To Taiwan a Crucial Issue
Hegseth was in Beijing with Trump and understands how sensitive the Taiwan issue is, particularly amid recent moves toward a cross-strait détente, Da Wei, director of the Center for International Security and Strategy and a professor at Beijing’s Tsinghua University, told Newsweek.
He’s also aware Trump has not made a decision on the Taiwan arms package.
“So of course that issue has not been decided, so it’s still pending. I think he feels he needs to be very careful,” Da said.
If Trump does approve the arms deal, it will be “very difficult” for Xi to travel to the United States in September, as Trump has invited him to do, because he has “invested so much” political capital in the Taiwan issue during his discussions with Trump this month and earlier in the year by phone, Da said.
“If you understand China’s positions, if you have seen the effort China’s government has already invested, and if you say President Xi is my friend, why should you do something your friend didn’t want?” he said.
During the Q&A session that followed Hegseth’s speech, he dismissed concerns that the U.S. defense industry would be unable to replenish munitions depleted during the recent conflict with Iran—the explanation acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao cited earlier this month for delaying a $14 billion weapons package for Taiwan.
“I would very much decouple the two [Taiwan arms sales and munitions supply]. Our ability to recommence, if necessary, is more than capable. Our stockpiles are more than suited for that, both there and around the globe, because of how we balance exquisite and more plentiful munitions,” Hegseth said.
US Remains Taiwan’s Top Arms Supplier
The U.S has long been Taiwan’s top source of arms, as envisioned under the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979. Washington separately told Beijing it would gradually reduce arms sales to Taiwan, but provided no timetable and stated that any reduction would be contingent on the threat posed to the island.
Some Taiwan watchers in Washington have warned that by treating such sales as conditional, Trump has emboldened Beijing to increase pressure on Taiwan and seek further concessions from the United States.
Others note that previous administrations have at times adjusted the timing of arms-sale announcements to avoid unnecessarily aggravating Beijing during sensitive periods in the relationship.
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