WHO is really seeking global hegemony, let alone in Asia? This question is prompted by the speech delivered at the 22nd Shangri-La Dialogue on April 31 by the United States Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Hegseth at the dialogue outlined the Donald Trump administration’s new Indo-Pacific Strategy that will see Washington spend, for the first time ever, over $1 trillion in 2026 to rebuild the US military to deter aggression around the world, and achieve Indo-Pacific regional peace and world peace.
In his speech, Hegseth accused China of seeking ‘hegemonic power’ in Asia, while the content of the speech rather pointed that it is the US that is seeking hegemony not only in Asia, but the entire Indo-Pacific region and the world.
“…America is to be back in the Indo-Pacific – and we’re here to stay. The United States ins an Indo-Pacific nation. We have been since the earliest days of our Republic. We will continue to be an Indo-Pacific nation – with Indo-Pacific interests – for generations to come.
“And under President Trump’s leadership, the United States is committed to achieving peace through strength.
“That starts with deterring aggression around the world and here in the Indo-Pacific, here is our priority theater, here with you – our allies and our partners.
“The United States stands ready to work with any country that is willing to step up and preserve the global and regional peace that we hold so dear.
“President Trump was elected to apply America first on the world stage. You know, getting a chance to watch him first hand in the Oval Office and around the world, the world is incredibly fortunate to have an American president with the combination of being a peace seeker and a strong leader. President Trump has the unique ability to make possible things that seem impossible, moving the Overton window. He is the ultimate deal maker.”
Hegseth said President Trump gave him a clear mission at the Defense Department: achieve peace through strength, and to accomplish this mission “our overriding objectives have been equally clear: restore the warriors ethos, rebuild our military, and reestablish deterrence.”
“And it starts with the warrior ethos. All of us in this profession of arms understand that humans are far more important than hardware.
“So, we are focussed on lethality, meritocracy, accountability, standards, readiness, and warfighting. We respect human nature, hard training, and the lessons of history. Our combat formations will be trained and skilled.
“Our standards will be high and unwavering. If you can do the job, you’ll be in our formation. If you can’t, you are not. Color blind, Gender neutral. Merit-based. It’s as simple as that.
“That is restoring the warrior ethos, and in our troops, in America, are responding to it. Morale, recruiting, retention, readiness, training, CH capabilities, all rapidly increasing thanks to President Trump’s back-to-back basics approach.
“Our second priority is rebuilding the military. We’re equipping American warfighters with the most advanced capabilities so that we remain the strongest and most lethal fighting force in the world.”
China seeks global collaboration for the building of a community with a shared future for mankind
Contrary to Hegseth’s accusation against China, China is seeking global collaboration to advance its vision for the Building of a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind.
This vision is the fundamental basis of Chinese aid, as well as development initiatives such as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and Global Development Initiative (GDI).
China has much to teach the world after successfully eliminating absolute poverty ten years ahead of the 2030 United Nations Agenda for Sustainable Development deadline.
Goal One of the 17-goal agenda is eliminating extreme poverty for all people everywhere, and China’s accomplishment of this goal in 2015 equates to one-fifth of the global population not having to worry about basic food, clothing and accommodation anymore.
China’s unprecedented transformation from a poverty-stricken nation into the world’s second largest economy, only serves to exemplify the effectiveness of its Chinese Characteristics-based socialism governing system and visionary leadership by the Communist Party of China (CPC).
Based on China’s own development experience, CPC under the leadership of President Xi launched the BRI in 2013, and the GDI in 2021 to enable developing countries, who lag behind in meeting the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda to accelerate progress.
US- other western allies are advancing hegemonic agendas as evident in SI
History speaks for itself that all that the US cares about is maintaining its global dominance and investing heavily into it.
USAID-funded projects in Solomon Islands during the Joe Biden administration have very little to show for despite the millions of dollars poured into them. Soon after returning to the White House Trump suspended the USAID pending review to ensure alignment with national interests. To date, there is word on the progress or outcome of the review.
The US only re-established its embassy in Solomon Islands after Honiara and Beijing signed a Security Pact in 2022. The embassy was closed in 1993 after the Bill Clinton administration took over from George W. Bush due to priority shifts.
The Security Pact was prompted by the inability of the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force to contain a riot in 2021 despite the presence of Australian police personnel who were particularly deployed to help the local force address the situation. Why was this so? The answer is simply because the rioters were protesting the (Democratic Coalition Government for Advancement’s (DCGA’s) decision to switch diplomatic ties from Taiwan to China and were demanding Prime Minister Sogavare to step down to pave way for the formation of a new government that will sever the newly established Solomon Islands-China diplomatic relations.
After what was a failed attempt to remove Sogavare as Prime Minister and his government from power, minutes of secret meetings involving key Opposition figures and officials from the US, Australian and New Zealand government and a foreign aid-funded local watchdog group in coordinating the riot emerged.
One of the rioters, who fled overseas to avoid justice, in a Facebook post in July 2024 questioned the key Opposition figures for not fighting for the amnesty they promised to rioters.
These actions by the US and its other Western allies in Solomon Islands are in breach of the Communique of the 49th Pacific Islands Forum which reaffirms the right of members to either individually or collectively address their security issues and concerns, and tantamount to sovereign rights violation.
Canberra, Washington, Wellington, and Solomon Islands very own Opposition Group in 2023 even took the unprecedented action of calling on Prime Minister Sogavare to publish the details of the security pact.
Fruitful outcomes from SI-China Bilateral Relations
In a short span of five years, the Solomon Islands-China bilateral relations saw the successful implementation of major ChinaAid-funded projects such as the National Stadium Project, which enabled Solomon Islands to host the Pacific Games for the first time in 2023, the construction of modern dormitory complexes at the Solomon Islands National University for some of the sporting contingents from the Pacific, which were thereafter handed over to the university, the National Referral Hospital (NRH) Comprehensive Medical Center, which is now providing specialist health-care services in cardiology, nephrology and urology, and the Auki Town Road Tar-Seal Project which is underway. An ongoing major project funded by China under the BRI is the national telecommunication towers’ project, which upon accomplishment will see the construction of telecommunication towers in all provinces. The accomplishment of this project is expected to lower the cost of communication in Solomon Islands and boost government service delivery and business sector growth.
China is a Genuine Global Development partner that the US should seek to emulate, not demonize
China has demonstrated and continues to demonstrate that it is a genuine global development partner that seeks win-win benefits for all under its Vision for the Building of a Community for a Shared Future for Mankind.
Instead of working against China’s noble global development initiative, which are complementary to the world’s achievement of the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, the Trump administration should consider introducing similar initiatives, and also consider returning US to the Paris Agreement.
The 49th Pacific Islands Forum Communique also called on the US to return to the Paris Agreement. The Joe Biden administration did return the US to the global climate agreement, but the Trump administration overturned the decision, and withdrew the US for the second time.
China, on the other hand, is playing a greater role on the climate action both at the domestic and international front.
At the 3rd China-PICs Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Xiamen City, Fujian Province, China in late May, China is committed itself to boosting its collaboration on the Pacific regional front on climate action in line with the Paris Agreement. The Pacific is among the most vulnerable to the impacts of Climate Change.
By DELI-SHARON OSO
In Beijing, China
