Hegseth tells Philippines the Trump administration will ramp up deterrence against China threat

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday that the Trump administration would work with allies to ramp up deterrence against threats across the world, including China’s aggression in the South China Sea.

Hegseth, who was visiting the Philippines, blamed the previous Biden administration for insufficient actions that emboldened aggressors like China over the years. He said the U.S. military was being rebuilt under President Donald Trump and was re-establishing its “warrior ethos” in the region, but did not elaborate.

“What we’re dealing with right now is many years of deferred maintenance, of weakness, that we need to reestablish strength and deterrence in multiple places around the globe,” Hegseth told a news conference with his Philippine counterpart, Gilberto Teodoro, after meeting President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in Manila.

“There’s a long line of countries in the past who have attempted to test U.S. resolve,” Hegseth added. “We are resolved at this time … to work with our partners.”

Earlier, he told Marcos that deterrence was particularly needed in the Indo-Pacific region “considering the threats from the communist Chinese.”

“Friends need to stand shoulder to shoulder to deter conflict, to ensure that there is free navigation whether you call it the South China Sea or the West Philippine Sea,” he told Marcos.

The U.S. was not gearing up for war, Hegseth said — while underscoring that peace would be won “through strength.”

The Philippines was the first stop in Hegseth’s first trip to Asia. He is due to travel next to Japan.

Hegseth said the Trump administration would commit more security assistance to the Philippines in addition to a $500 million fund to help the Philippine military modernize. The U.S. funding was first announced by the Biden administration.

The U.S. would also deploy an anti-ship missile system called the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System as well as unmanned sea vessels for largescale military exercises involving thousands of American and Filipino forces next month in the Philippines, Hegseth said.

Additionally, the allied forces agreed to stage special operations forces training in Batanes province, a cluster of islands in the northernmost tip of the Philippine archipelago across a sea border from Taiwan, he said.

Hegseth said that U.S. Indo-Pacific Command chief Adm. Samuel Paparo, who heads the largest number of American combat forces outside the U.S. mainland, has “real war plans” and was ready to work with allied forces to create “strategic dilemmas for the communist Chinese that (will) help them reconsider whether or not violence or action is something they want to undertake.”

Trump’s foreign policy thrust has triggered concerns in Asia about the depth of U.S. commitment to the region. But in his talks with Marcos and Teodoro, Hegseth reaffirmed the U.S. commitment defend the Philippines if it comes under attack.