The Pentagon chief was speaking at an annual security forum in Singapore, as the administration of US President Donald Trump spars with Beijing on trade, technology, and influence over strategic corners of the globe.
China's foreign ministry blasted the speech, saying it had "lodged solemn representations with the US side" over Hegseth's comments and taking particular exception to his remarks about Taiwan.
Trump has launched a trade war with China since taking office in January, sought to curb its access to key AI technologies and deepened security ties with allies such as the Philippines, which is engaged in escalating territorial disputes with Beijing.
"The threat China poses is real and it could be imminent," Hegseth said at the Shangri-La Dialogue, attended by defence officials from around the world.
Beijing is "credibly preparing to potentially use military force to alter the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific", he said.
Hegseth warned that the Chinese military was building the capabilities to invade Taiwan and "rehearsing for the real deal".
China has ramped up military pressure on Taiwan and held large-scale exercises around the self-governed democratic island that are often described as preparations for a blockade or invasion.
The United States was "reorienting toward deterring aggression by communist China", Hegseth said, calling on US allies and partners in Asia to swiftly upgrade their defences in the face of mounting threats.
In Beijing, the foreign ministry said: "The US should not try to use the Taiwan issue as a bargaining chip to contain China and must not play with fire."
- 'Stirring up trouble' -
Hegseth described China's conduct as a "wake-up call", accusing Beijing of endangering lives with cyber attacks, harassing its neighbours, and "illegally seizing and militarising lands" in the disputed South China Sea.
Beijing claims almost the entire waterway, through which more than 60 percent of global maritime trade passes, despite an international ruling that its assertion has no merit.
It has clashed repeatedly with the Philippines in the strategic waters in recent months, with the flashpoint set to dominate discussions at the Singapore forum, according to US officials.
As Hegseth spoke in Singapore, China's military announced that its navy and air force were carrying out routine "combat readiness patrols" around the Scarborough Shoal, a chain of reefs and rocks Beijing disputes with the Philippines.
Beijing did not send any top defence ministry officials to the summit, dispatching instead a delegation from the People's Liberation Army National Defence University led by Rear Admiral Hu Gangfeng.
Without referring to Hegseth by name, Hu said of his speech that "these actions are essentially about stirring up trouble, creating division, inciting confrontation, and destabilising the Asia-Pacific".
Hegseth's comments came after Trump stoked new trade tensions with China, arguing that Beijing had "violated" a deal to de-escalate tariffs as the two sides appeared deadlocked in negotiations.
The world's two biggest economies had agreed to temporarily lower eye-watering tariffs they had imposed on each other, pausing them for 90 days.
- 'Cannot dominate' -
Reassuring US allies on Saturday, Hegseth said the Asia-Pacific region was "America's priority theatre", pledging to ensure "China cannot dominate us -- or our allies and partners".
He said the United States had stepped up cooperation with allies including the Philippines and Japan, and reiterated Trump's vow that "China will not invade (Taiwan) on his watch".
However, he called on US partners in the region to ramp up spending on their militaries and "quickly upgrade their own defences".
"Asian allies should look to countries in Europe for a newfound example," Hegseth said, citing pledges by NATO members including Germany to move towards Trump's defence spending target of five percent of GDP.
"Deterrence doesn't come on the cheap."
China rebukes Macron's comparison of Ukraine and Taiwan
Singapore (AFP) May 31, 2025 - China hit back at French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday for drawing a connection between the Ukraine conflict and the fate of Taiwan, saying the two issues are "different in nature, and not comparable at all".
"Comparing the Taiwan question with the Ukraine issue is unacceptable," China's embassy in Singapore said on social media, a day after Macron warned Asian defence officials in Singapore not to view Russia's invasion of Ukraine as a far-away problem.
"If we consider that Russia could be allowed to take a part of the territory of Ukraine without any restriction, without any constraint, without any reaction of the global order, how would you phrase what could happen in Taiwan?" Macron told the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia's premier annual security forum.
"What would you do the day something happens in the Philippines?"
China's embassy fired back that the "Taiwan question is entirely China's internal affair. There is but one China in the world, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory."
While Taiwan considers itself a sovereign nation, China has said it will not rule out using force to bring it under its control.
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth warned Saturday at the same forum in Singapore that China was "credibly preparing" to use military force to upend the balance of power in Asia, adding the Chinese military was building the capabilities to invade Taiwan and "rehearsing for the real deal".
China says US 'should not play with fire' on Taiwan, slams Hegseth
Beijing (AFP) May 31, 2025 -
China on Sunday warned the United States it "should not play with fire" over Taiwan and said it had lodged "representations" with Washington over comments made by Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth at a summit in Singapore.
The US secretary of defence used his speech at an annual security forum on Saturday to warn that China was "credibly preparing" to use military force to upend the balance of power in Asia.
He added that the Chinese military was building the capabilities to invade Taiwan and "rehearsing for the real deal".
In a statement released just after midnight, China's foreign ministry said it had "lodged solemn representations with the US side" over Hegseth's comments, adding that it "strongly deplores" his remarks.
"The US should not try to use the Taiwan issue as a bargaining chip to contain China and should not play with fire," it said.
Beijing, which did not send its defence minister Dong Jun to the Singapore summit, called the "Taiwan issue" China's "internal affair" and said foreign countries had no right to interfere.
China considers the self-ruled democratic island as its territory and has not ruled out using force to take control of it.
Hegseth also accused Beijing of "illegally seizing and militarising lands" in the disputed South China Sea.
Beijing claims almost the entire waterway, despite an international ruling that its assertion has no merit.
The foreign ministry on Sunday claimed there had "never been any issue" with navigation in the waterway.
China "is committed to safeguarding its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in accordance with the law", a ministry spokesperson said.
Beijing also accused the United States of turning the Indo-Pacific region into a "powder keg" by deploying weapons in the South China Sea.
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