Hegseth heads to Manila to shore up US ties with Asia-Pacific partners
The Iran war and Trump's criticisms of allies have led Asia-Pacific countries to recalibrate their calculations.
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth will attend a Southeast Asian defence meeting this week alongside his counterparts from India, South Korea and Japan as Washington looks to solidify ties with the region after a year overshadowed by the fallout from the US-Israel war on Iran.
The meeting will bring together defence officials from the 11-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) plus eight of the bloc’s dialogue partners.
Australia, New Zealand, Russia and China are also expected to send representatives to the talks, which run from Wednesday to Thursday in the Philippines.
Tensions escalated sharply this month with at least “eight close encounters” in the South China Sea and nearby Luzon Strait, according to the US Naval Institute.