While speaking at a conference in Singapore, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth swore that the U.S. would defend Taiwan should China attempt to “conquer” the island.
Appearing at the Shangri-La Dialogue, a security conference where world leaders such as French President Emmanuel Macron and Ministers for Defense from Japan, Australia and several other countries were also in attendance, Hegseth issued his most assertive statement on Taiwan to date, warning that threats from China could be “imminent.”
Hegseth told conference attendees, “To be clear: Any attempt by Communist China to conquer Taiwan by force would result in devastating consequences for the Indo-Pacific and the world. We are not going to sugarcoat it. The threat China poses is real. And it could be imminent.”
He added that, “Communist China will not invade Taiwan on [President Trump’s] watch‚” and asserted that the U.S.’ goal is to “prevent war, to make the cost too high, and make peace the only option,” although he did not provide specifics as to how this would be achieved. He also told conference attendees that together, their countries could demonstrate “what it means to execute peace through strength,” but if that failed, the U.S. Department of Defense was prepared to do “what it does best” and “fight and win, decisively.”
Hegseth also called upon U.S. allies in the region to “upgrade their own defenses, telling those gathered, “It has to be clear to all that Beijing is credibly preparing to potentially use military force to alter the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific.”
China claims Taiwan as its territory and has declined to rule out using force to reclaim the island. Taiwan, officially known as the Republic of China, asserts its independence from China, which has offered the country a “one country, two systems” model similar to that of Hong Kong, a move not supported by any major political party in Taiwan.
While the U.S. severed official ties with Taiwan in 1979 and has no official position on Taiwanese sovereignty, it is bound by the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979 to provide the country with the means to defend itself.
In February, the U.S. State Department removed a statement from its website asserting that the U.S. does not support Taiwan independence. In its place, a line was added that stated the U.S. would seek to support Taiwan’s membership in international organizations “where applicable.”
Only 12 countries, such as Belize and Tuvalu, currently maintain formal ties with Taiwan, although many more maintain informal ties. Taiwan was expelled from the United Nations in 1971, and organizations to which China belongs have historically declined to grant Taiwan membership.
