U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks in the first plenary session entitled “United States’ New Ambitions for Indo-Pacific Security” during the 22nd IISS Shangri-La Dialogue at the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore on May 31, 2025. Yong Teck Lim/Getty Images
Standing before defense chiefs from more than 40 nations at Asia’s premier security forum on May 31, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued what analysts say is the sternest warning Washington has ever leveled over the Taiwan Strait.
Sean Tseng is a Canada-based reporter for The Epoch Times covering U.S.–China relations, CCP politics, trade policy, and emerging technologies including AI and defense. He holds a BASc in mechanical engineering from the University of British Columbia.
