Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth has been making stops throughout Asia, upgrading ties, projecting American leadership in the Indo-Pacific, and condemning the Chinese regime’s military aggression in the region.
“President Trump wants allies to be strong,” Hegseth said in Seoul on Nov. 4. It was a frequent refrain throughout the trip.
He has made stops in Vietnam, Japan, Malaysia, and South Korea, as well as the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea. The trip included the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit during which he held discussions with other top defense officials and signed a defense pact with India.
Hegseth capped off the tour with a speech to American soldiers at Camp Humphreys in South Korea, the largest overseas U.S. military base, emphasizing their role in the United States being able to re-establish deterrence around the world—”peace through strength.”…