- There is alarm in the Pacific over China’s historic military build-up and expansion of activities
- US seeks a stable balance of power in Asia without any state imposing hegemony
- Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth spoke at the Shangri-La Dialogue with officials from 45 countries
There is "rightful alarm" in the Pacific over China's military build-up and the United States seeks a regional balance where no state has unchecked power, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said on Saturday.
"When we look across the region today, there is rightful alarm regarding China's historic military build-up and the expansion of its military activities in the region and beyond," Hegseth told Asia's premier defence summit in Singapore.
He added that Washington did not seek "needless confrontation in the region".
Hegseth was speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue, which brings together top defence officials and experts from around 45 countries.
In his headline speech, Hegseth said Washington sought "a genuinely stable equilibrium (in Asia) that works for Americans as well as our allies".
That means "a favourable but durable balance of power in which no state, including China, can impose its hegemony and hold the security or prosperity of our nation and our allies in question", he added.
Hegseth's remarks come in the wake of a Reuters report that Beijing is building a sprawling web of launch pads, bunkers and communications nodes near the isolated nuclear silos that hold the Chinese military's longest-range missiles.
The images reveal more than 80 pads for possible use by China's expanding fleet of mobile missile launchers and air-defense batteries. They also show facilities that may serve electronic warfare, satellite communications and command operations, according to three security analysts, who assessed the imagery for Reuters.
The scale of the construction, which hasn't been previously reported, points to a sweeping expansion of hardened infrastructure designed to protect and operate China's land-based nuclear forces. Taken together, the network signals a significant upgrade in Beijing's efforts to ensure second-strike capability, underscoring intensifying nuclear competition with the United States as tensions rise over issues such as Taiwan's sovereignty.
China's nuclear build-up is among the most scrutinized facets of President Xi Jinping's military modernization because of what some foreign diplomats describe as Beijing's lack of transparency and failed efforts by the United States to engage the Chinese leadership on its evolving nuclear capabilities and intentions.
