{"id":437,"date":"2026-05-31T19:42:57","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T19:42:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=437"},"modified":"2026-05-31T19:42:57","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T19:42:57","slug":"hegseth-seeks-to-convince-allies-u-s-should-stay-quiet-on-taiwan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=437","title":{"rendered":"Hegseth seeks to convince allies U.S. should stay quiet on Taiwan"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Hegseth over the weekend became the first Pentagon chief in more than a decade to avoid\u00a0mentioning\u00a0Taiwan during a speech that lasted about 30 minutes at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue. He declared \u201cthe era of performative outrage is over\u201d while outlining a \u201cstrong, quiet and clear\u201d policy toward the region, and hailing ties with Beijing as \u201cbetter than they\u2019ve been in many years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=435\">Low-budget films from YouTubers beat \u2018Star Wars\u2019 heavyweight at the box office \u2014 \u2018we\u2019ll probably look back at this as a real turning point\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The softer language, a\u00a0sharp contrast\u00a0from Hegseth\u2019s address a year ago, came just weeks after Xi cautioned Donald Trump in Beijing that mishandling the Taiwan situation could lead to \u201cclashes\u201d between the superpowers. While Hegseth also noted \u201crightful alarm\u201d at China\u2019s military buildup and showered nearly every Asian country with praise for boosting defense spending, the overall tone showed an eagerness to sidestep tensions with Beijing.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cOn China, something had clearly changed: this was perhaps the least confronting speech from a US administration in the 23-year history of the Shangri-la Dialogue,\u201d said Rory Medcalf, head of the National Security College at the Australian National University. \u201cThe great uncertainty is whether this all reflects strength or vulnerability in the US negotiating position.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to reporters as he left Singapore on Saturday night, Hegseth said US policy toward Taiwan remained the same \u2014 with an important caveat.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe only change you might see is how we talk,\u201d he said, adding that the US should speak \u201csoftly, while carrying a big stick.\u201d That phrase is widely associated with former President Theodore Roosevelt, who initiated the construction of the Panama Canal, sought to keep European powers out of Latin America and flexed American military and diplomatic muscle in both Europe and Asia.<\/p>\n<p>One major test of whether US policy toward Taiwan remains unchanged in practice will be a stalled $14 billion arms package, which Trump called a \u201cbargaining chip\u201d following his meeting with Xi \u2014 a comment that broke decades of diplomatic norms. Hegseth wasn\u2019t asked about Trump\u2019s remark in public over the weekend, and sidestepped a question on whether the weapons deal would be finalized.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Taiwan Defense Minister Wellington Koo told reporters on Saturday that Hegseth\u2019s speech overall \u201cemphasized safeguarding peace and stability\u201d in the Indo-Pacific. \u201cWe will continue to strengthen our self-defense capabilities, and Taiwan and the US will maintain close exchanges,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>The quieter US approach toward the self-ruled democracy comes as Xi steps up efforts to isolate Taiwan\u2019s leader. China in April pressured a trio of African countries to deny President Lai Ching-te access to their airspace, a rare move to block him from traveling abroad. The New York Times\u00a0reported\u00a0on Friday that Beijing had expelled one of its journalists in February over the publication\u2019s interview with Lai several months earlier.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Although Beijing\u2019s chief military diplomat skipped the Shangri-La Dialogue for the second year running, Chinese delegates were generally pleased it didn\u2019t turn into a staging ground for US-China tensions like in past years. Hegseth\u2019s more moderate tone, and particularly his use of the Beijing-approved phrase \u201cconstructive strategic stability\u201d to describe US-China ties, was \u201ccommendable,\u201d said\u00a0Da Wei, director of the Center for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Even so, Da expressed wariness over Hegseth\u2019s \u201cbig stick\u201d reference to Roosevelt, saying it carried a \u201cdistinct coloring of interventionism.\u201d While the US wants to stabilize relations, it\u2019s also urging regional countries to increase military spending to counter China, he added.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cThis is a blatant contradiction and I believe that countries in the region will make their own wise and discerning judgments,\u201d said Da, who attended the event in Singapore.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=433\">I built a startup from scratch and still nearly died because of a broken healthcare system. That\u2019s why I\u2019m running for Congress<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>\u2018Strange\u2019 Criticisms<\/h3>\n<p>While Hegseth sought to avoid agitating China, two US treaty allies that form the First Island Chain alongside Taiwan had some of the sharpest remarks toward Beijing.<\/p>\n<p>In unusually frank comments on Sunday, Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi hit out at Beijing, saying it was \u201cstrange\u201d that a country with a huge arsenal of nuclear weapons had been accusing Japan of \u201cnew militarism.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In an interview with Bloomberg Television on Saturday, Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro called Japan, Vietnam and Taiwan part of a \u201cconvergence endeavor\u201d bound by a common goal, and suggested people from Taiwan could take refuge in his nation in the event of any military invasion by China.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Although Beijing isn\u2019t showing signs of imminent military action, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said this month the Philippines would likely get\u00a0involved\u00a0in any such conflict, due to its proximity to Taiwan. Those comments came days before he traveled to Japan for a summit with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who last November enraged China with similar remarks.<\/p>\n<p>American forces have stepped up cooperation with Japan and the Philippines, which host US forces on military bases flanking Taiwan. The trio held annual joint drills this year, with Tokyo sending combat troops to participate for the first\u00a0time\u00a0in its post-World War II history.<\/p>\n<p>China has long been wary of the US trying to form a Pacific version of NATO, which is ironic given Hegseth on Saturday reserved some of his harshest criticism for allies in Europe, whom he branded \u201cmoralizing\u201d agents of drama. Admiral\u00a0Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, the chair of the NATO Military Committee,\u00a0dismissed\u00a0concerns of friction, saying in an interview that the relationship with the Pentagon is stable and free of \u201cdrama.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Even as Hegseth praised Asian allies including South Korea, Japan and Australia for stepping up efforts to reduce reliance on the US, he avoided highlighting the $25 billion special military budget that Taiwan\u00a0passed\u00a0this month \u2014 much of which will be spent on purchasing US weapons.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Ignoring Taiwan\u2019s extra spending was a missed opportunity, according to\u00a0Chris Estep, a non-resident fellow in the Asia program at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, who helped draft former US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin\u2019s 2023 and 2024 speeches at the Shangri-La Dialogue, both of which mentioned the chip hub.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPraising Taipei\u2019s recent moves would have sent a strong and clear message about Washington\u2019s longstanding interest in deterring conflict across the Strait,\u201d Estep said. \u201cSilence sends its own kind of message.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=431\">Financial markets are losing the security blanket that\u2019s bailed them out of trouble so many times, top economist warns<\/a><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hegseth became the first Pentagon chief in more than a decade to avoid\u00a0mentioning\u00a0Taiwan during a speech that lasted about 30 minutes at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":436,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[114],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-china"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Hegseth seeks to convince allies U.S. should stay quiet on Taiwan - Cross Country Moving Team<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=437\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hegseth seeks to convince allies U.S. should stay quiet on Taiwan - Cross Country Moving Team\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Hegseth became the first Pentagon chief in more than a decade to avoid\u00a0mentioning\u00a0Taiwan during a speech that lasted about 30 minutes at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=437\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cross Country Moving Team\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-31T19:42:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=437#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=437\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa\"},\"headline\":\"Hegseth seeks to convince allies U.S. should stay quiet on Taiwan\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-31T19:42:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=437\"},\"wordCount\":1096,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=437#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/ac77a7e22514a768782a947ff6fbb63a.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"China\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=437#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=437\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=437\",\"name\":\"Hegseth seeks to convince allies U.S. should stay quiet on Taiwan - Cross Country Moving Team\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=437#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=437#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/ac77a7e22514a768782a947ff6fbb63a.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-31T19:42:57+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=437#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=437\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=437#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/ac77a7e22514a768782a947ff6fbb63a.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/ac77a7e22514a768782a947ff6fbb63a.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=437#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Hegseth seeks to convince allies U.S. should stay quiet on Taiwan\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Cross Country Moving Team\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Hegseth seeks to convince allies U.S. should stay quiet on Taiwan - Cross Country Moving Team","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=437","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Hegseth seeks to convince allies U.S. should stay quiet on Taiwan - Cross Country Moving Team","og_description":"Hegseth became the first Pentagon chief in more than a decade to avoid\u00a0mentioning\u00a0Taiwan during a speech that lasted about 30 minutes at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue.","og_url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=437","og_site_name":"Cross Country Moving Team","article_published_time":"2026-05-31T19:42:57+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=437#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=437"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa"},"headline":"Hegseth seeks to convince allies U.S. should stay quiet on Taiwan","datePublished":"2026-05-31T19:42:57+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=437"},"wordCount":1096,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=437#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ac77a7e22514a768782a947ff6fbb63a.webp","articleSection":["China"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=437#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=437","url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=437","name":"Hegseth seeks to convince allies U.S. should stay quiet on Taiwan - Cross Country Moving Team","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=437#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=437#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ac77a7e22514a768782a947ff6fbb63a.webp","datePublished":"2026-05-31T19:42:57+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=437#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=437"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=437#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ac77a7e22514a768782a947ff6fbb63a.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ac77a7e22514a768782a947ff6fbb63a.webp","width":1200,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=437#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Hegseth seeks to convince allies U.S. should stay quiet on Taiwan"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/","name":"Cross Country Moving Team","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com"],"url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=437"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}