In China, it seemed like it was going to be an informally quiet weekend, where the main coverage would be the races of boats decorated as dragons for the Dragon Boat Festival, a popular festivity in the giant Asian country, during which families eat glutinous rice balls and the most superstitious clean their houses thoroughly and make offerings to ward off evil spirits. Instead, on Saturday morning, many spotlights in the giant Asian country focused on what the head of the Pentagon was saying from Singapore, painting a bellicose scenario in the Asia-Pacific region with China as a dangerous threat.
At the Shangri-La Dialogue, the largest Asian security summit, United States Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, stated in front of a crowd full of Defense ministers, generals, and diplomats that China intended to "alter the status quo of the region" and that U.S. allies should increase defense spending.
In a speech directed at the "threat" from China, Hegseth revealed that his purpose was to garner regional support to restore collective deterrence against what he termed as Chinese "aggression" in the region. These words did not sit well with the Chinese army representative at the forum, General Hu Gangfeng, who accused Washington on Sunday of "destabilizing the Asia-Pacific region."
Hu stated that some of Hegseth's claims were fabricated and "aimed at provoking disturbances, creating division, and inciting confrontation". The Chinese Ministry of Defense also released a statement accusing the United States of using the security forum to "create disputes, sow discord, and pursue selfish interests".
During the Shangri-La Dialogue, which concluded on Sunday, the notable absence was that of the Chinese Defense Minister, Dong Jun, who also could not personally respond to other tough interventions, such as that of his Australian counterpart, Richard Marles, who demanded greater transparency from Beijing and suggested that Xi Jinping's government should explain why it needs "such extraordinary military development."
Following the incendiary speech by the U.S. Secretary of Defense, Beijing flexed its military muscle in the disputed South China Sea. The People's Liberation Army (PLA) announced that its fighter jets, warships, and coast guard were conducting a "combat air and sea readiness patrol" around the Scarborough Shoal - known as Huangyan Island in China - whose sovereignty is claimed by both Beijing and the Philippines.
These maneuvers took place just days after Chinese and Philippine coast guards clashed near the shoal, including a confrontation involving water cannons. Beijing claims the majority of islands (some of which it has built military installations on) in the South China Sea, along with rights over its adjacent waters, while Southeast Asian countries like the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Brunei also have overlapping claims.
The Asian power has been steadily gaining military ground over Washington in the region, leaving behind the years when the now feared PLA was ill-prepared for combat and equipped with outdated weaponry. The Chinese military is the world's largest in terms of active personnel, surpasses the United States in warships, and has deployed hypersonic missiles and state-of-the-art fighter jets.
This week, Beijing deployed an unusually large fleet of naval vessels (over 70, according to Reuters) and its coast guard across a stretch of waters in East Asia, including disputed areas near Taiwan, the southern islands of Japan, and the South China Sea, where two of the three aircraft carriers in the PLA sailed.
Chinese state television also reported several live-fire exercises during the week in the southern province of Fujian, across from Taiwan Strait. The most powerful warship in Beijing, the stealth guided-missile destroyer Type 055 Lhasa, participated in these maneuvers, firing guided missiles with airborne signal simulations of a maritime confrontation.