In the business of tanks but not trade? How Hegseth’s message is landing in Asia-Pacific

epa12146728 (L-R) US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles, Japan’s Minister of Defense Nakatani Gen, and Philippines Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro Jr. shake hands with each other following their multilateral meeting on the sidelines of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Shangri-La Dialogue Defence Summit in Singapore, 31 May 2025. Defense ministers and officials from 47 countries are gathered in the city-state for the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual high-level defense summit in the Asia-Pacific region. EPA-EFE/HOW HWEE YOUNG

(From left) US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth with Australia’s Deputy PM and Minister of Defence Richard Marles, Japan’s Minister of Defence Gen Nakatani and Philippines’ Secretary of National Defence Gilberto Teodoro Jr following their multilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue on May 31.

PHOTO: EPA-EFE

Clement Tan

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SINGAPORE - It may have been the namesake of the fictional paradise in British author James Hilton’s Lost Horizon, but the Shangri-La Dialogue was anything but.

New Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth’s debut address at the key annual security forum might have assured allies the Indo-Pacific remains its “priority theatre”, pledging to prevent war and deter aggression so that “shared interests align for peace and prosperity”.

In the business of tanks but not trade? How Hegseth’s message is landing in Asia-Pacific

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