China preparing for war, warns Pentagon chief
US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth remarked on Tuesday that China represents a more assertive threat to the US, asserting that countering Beijing is the Pentagon’s foremost regional priority, in light of its swift military advancements and invasion tactics near Taiwan, as reported by the Taipei Times. “Our pacing threat is communist China,” Hegseth told the US House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on Defence during an oversight meeting with Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Dan Caine. “Beijing is preparing for war in the Indo-Pacific as part of its broader strategy to dominate that region and then the world,” Hegseth said, adding that if it succeeds, it may impede US reindustrialization and choke its economy, according to the Taipei Times.
Hegseth posits that US President Donald Trump’s “peace through strength” strategy represents the suitable approach, asserting that the stagnating US defence industrial base requires revitalisation. “China is undertaking a historic military buildup and actively rehearsing for an invasion of Taiwan,” he said, adding that only having the world’s most powerful and lethal military—focused on protecting key US interests—can effectively deter adversaries and win a potential conflict, according to the Taipei Times report. Caine noted that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is showcasing its capabilities via military pressure, as operations against Taiwan increase in size, frequency, and complexity. “These violent actions are not ordinary exercises; they are rehearsals for a forced unification,” he stated.
The Taipei Times reports that Hegseth and Caine’s remarks align with the cautions expressed by US Admiral Samuel Paparo, who leads the US Indo-Pacific force. The implementation of integrated deterrence is a crucial factor in sustaining peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region and the Taiwan Strait, Minister of National Defence Wellington Koo informed the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defence Committee in Taipei yesterday.
Koo indicates that the Ministry of National Defence is vigilantly observing PLA activities, given the possibility that Beijing could transition from training to invasion. Chinese military exercises, regardless of whether they are announced or unannounced, are expanding in scale, he stated. The military has traditionally concentrated on addressing the outbreak of war; however, it is now examining military responses to “grey zone” tactics and the appropriate methods for assessing threat levels in these situations, as reported by the Taipei Times.
