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The U.S. defense secretary failed to mention Taiwan once during his closely-watched speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth delivers his speech to the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue 2026 on May 30, 2026,
From May 29-31, defense chiefs from across the Indo-Pacific region – home to most of the world’s ten largest militaries – gathered in Singapore for the annual Shangri-La Dialogue. When U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth joined them for the second time since taking office, his speech made more headlines for what he did not mention: Taiwan.
His address came at a high-stakes moment for U.S. aims in the world’s most geopolitically consequential region. On the heels of U.S. President Donald Trump’s May summit in Beijing with President Xi Jinping, Hegseth had a unique opportunity to set the record straight on the administration’s support for Taiwan.
