TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Tuesday said that China is the primary strategic concern and the Indo-Pacific a core focus.

Hegseth told the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee that, “The Indo-Pacific is our priority theater and China our pacing threat,” per CNA. He said he has traveled to the region twice to meet with allies and partners, conveying Trump's desire for them to “step up to share in the burden of their own defense” and act as force multipliers alongside the US. 

In response to China’s military expansion, Hegseth said that the Department of Defense will adhere to the "peace through strength" policy. In addition to defending the US homeland, deterring China will be the Pentagon’s primary objective in the Indo-Pacific. 

Hegseth said his focus in meeting with Indo-Pacific countries was determining what shared interoperability and capabilities can establish deterrence. He said the most important message the US and its regional partners can send is “hard power capabilities.”

The defense secretary said the US is working with regional allies on force projection and creating dilemmas for China. He said the US military is working better than ever with these countries based on common goals. 

When asked about prepositioning stocks of equipment in the Indo-Pacific, Hegseth said he is working with partners and allies to establish secure locations to store these supplies. He added that it is important to ramp up the industrial base to produce priority munitions to deploy to these locations.

He pointed to the proposed 13% increase in the defense budget as facilitating this increase in munitions production.