Takeaways From Hegseth’s Asia Tour

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Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth has been making stops throughout Asia, upgrading ties, projecting American leadership in the Indo-Pacific, and condemning the Chinese regime’s military aggression in the region.

“President Trump wants allies to be strong,” Hegseth said in Seoul on Nov. 4. It was a frequent refrain throughout the trip.

Hegseth capped off the tour with a speech to American soldiers at Camp Humphreys in South Korea, the largest overseas U.S. military base, emphasizing their role in the United States being able to re-establish deterrence around the world—“peace through strength.”

“You live it on the threats we all face from China’s aggression and course of actions in the South China Sea and elsewhere,” Hegseth told Southeast Asian defense ministers on Nov. 1.

He called for greater cooperation between ASEAN and the United States to deter Beijing’s “destabilizing actions.”

“We need to develop our joint capabilities to respond, and this includes being able to monitor maritime conduct and develop the tools that allow us to respond quickly ... ensuring that whoever is on the receiving end of aggression and provocation is then, therefore, by definition, not alone.”

“No one can innovate and scale like the United States of America, and we’re eager to share those capabilities with allies and partners,” Hegseth added.

During the summit, the United States and the Philippines formed a new joint task force that will focus mainly on the South China Sea, where Philippine and Chinese vessels have clashed.

Hegseth met with Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro on Oct. 31.

The task force will increase operational cooperation, improve combined planning, and enhance interoperability, particularly in the South China Sea,” according to a Pentagon statement.

Hegseth said the United States would “stoutly defend its interests” in the region and “emphasized U.S. concerns about China’s activities in the South China Sea, around Taiwan, and towards U.S. allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific.”

“We don’t have to stand here and tell Japan what it needs to do, because we both look out at the world and see the threat of Chinese military buildup, and we see a threat to free people, and we have to defend our own countries and stand alongside each other,” Hegseth said after meeting with Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi on Oct. 28.

“The threats we face are real, and they are urgent. China’s unprecedented military buildup and its aggressive military actions speak for themselves,” Hegseth said. He said the U.S.-Japan alliance was “critical to deterring Chinese military aggression” and keeping both countries safe.

Japan had agreed to increase defense spending from 1 to 2 percent of GDP ahead of President Donald Trump’s visit last week.

“As a result, through our shared strength we will deter threats. Through strength we will achieve peace,” Hegseth said. “We will invest now, and we will invest quickly, while we still have time. We will act with urgency.”

The increased readiness includes a focus on joint military exercises, he said. There are 55,000 American troops in Japan.

While the Philippines and Japan have been on the receiving end of Chinese military aggression and have been proactive in strengthening alliances, many southeast Asian nations have close ties to and dependencies on China and don’t readily condemn Beijing’s aggressive actions.

On Nov. 2, Hegseth met with Vietnam President Luong Cuong and high-level officials in Hanoi, and said “deeper cooperation will benefit both of our countries.”

Vietnam currently buys most of its weapons from Russia. After years of talks, the United States in 2016 lifted an embargo on weapons sales to Vietnam in 2016, but the countries have not signed a formal arms sales agreement.

Hegseth said the United States has already delivered three cutters and three T-6 trainer aircraft from an order of 12, and would be sending more.