Singapore, June 1, 2025, 12:15 PM IST – The annual Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, a premier platform for global security discussions, became a flashpoint for U.S.-China tensions as China accused U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth of attempting to “sow division” in the Asia-Pacific region. Hegseth’s keynote address on Saturday, which labeled China an “imminent” threat and urged regional nations to bolster defense spending, drew a sharp rebuke from Beijing, further straining bilateral relations amid ongoing disputes over Taiwan and the South China Sea.
Speaking at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Shangri-La Dialogue on May 31, 2025, Hegseth warned that China was “credibly preparing to potentially use military force to alter the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific” and was actively rehearsing for “the real deal” of invading Taiwan. “There’s no reason to sugar coat it. The threat China poses is real, and it could be imminent,” he stated, calling on Asian countries to increase their military investments to counter this perceived threat.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a strong condemnation on Sunday, describing Hegseth’s remarks as “filled with provocations and intended to sow division.” The ministry’s statement criticized the U.S. for ignoring regional calls for peace and development, asserting, “Hegseth deliberately ignored the call for peace and development by countries in the region, and instead touted the cold war mentality for bloc confrontation, vilified China with defamatory allegations, and falsely called China a ‘threat.’” China lodged a formal protest with the U.S., deploring what it called an attempt to undermine regional stability.
The statement also rejected Hegseth’s claim that China seeks to become a “hegemonic power” in the Asia-Pacific, countering, “No country in the world deserves to be called a hegemonic power other than the US itself, who is also the primary factor undermining the peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific.” Beijing accused Hegseth of “playing with fire” on the “Taiwan question,” reiterating its stance that Taiwan is a province of China and rejecting the island’s democratically elected government as “separatists.”
Australia’s Defense Minister Richard Marles, speaking to reporters on Sunday, dismissed China’s criticism of Hegseth. “What we have seen from China is the single biggest increase in military capability and buildup in a conventional sense by any country since the end of the Second World War,” Marles stated. He emphasized Australia’s collaboration with the U.S. and the Philippines to uphold the “global rules-based order,” including freedom of navigation operations under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea—a convention the U.S. has not ratified.
China’s delegation at the Dialogue, led by Rear Adm Hu Gangfeng of the People’s Liberation Army’s National Defence University, was notably smaller than in previous years. On Saturday, Hu told a panel that some speakers had attempted to “provoke, split, and instigate confrontations in the region” with their criticisms of China. He claimed the maritime situation in the Asia-Pacific was “generally stable” but faced “severe challenges,” accusing unnamed countries of increasing military presence and supporting “Taiwan independence separatist forces” under the guise of “so-called freedom of navigation.” China continues to assert expansive claims over the South China Sea, despite a 2016 ruling by The Hague declaring these claims unlawful.
Singapore’s Defense Minister Chan Chun Sing, addressing a panel on Sunday, underscored the importance of dialogue to prevent miscalculations. “Regardless of whether China attends the [Dialogue], it is incumbent on all of us to reach out to China in different forums … to not end up in a situation where either side misinterprets, miscalculates, or misrepresents each other’s position,” he cautioned. “That is dangerous.”
The Shangri-La Dialogue, which hosts global leaders, defense ministers, and military chiefs for three days of discussions, has often been a stage for U.S.-China exchanges, ranging from pointed criticisms to rare bilateral meetings. Last year, Hegseth’s predecessor, Lloyd Austin, met with China’s Defense Minister Dong Jun on the sidelines, but no such high-level engagement occurred this year, reflecting the deepening divide. As the Dialogue concluded on June 1, 2025, the sharp rhetoric between the U.S. and China highlighted the challenges of maintaining stability in the Asia-Pacific amid rising geopolitical tensions.
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