The United States will be keeping a close eye on China’s actions in the South China Sea, said U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth during his meeting with ASEAN leaders in Kuala Lumpur. Hegseth reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to ensuring maritime freedom and regional security amid growing tensions.
00:00China's sweeping territorial and maritime claims in the South China Sea
00:04fly in the face of their commitments to resolve disputes peaceful.
00:08And I will say I welcome the dialogue, obviously, both our presidents, President Trump, Chairman Xi have had,
00:15both myself and Chongqing, here, the opportunity to talk is something we have.
00:20We will continue. Dialogue is important.
00:23But inside that dialogue, we are most importantly watching actions.
00:28We seek peace. We do not seek conflict.
00:35But we must ensure that China is not seeking to dominate you or anybody else.
00:41As ASEAN members, we urge that this group continue to work toward that code of conduct in the South China Sea,
00:48remembering that a code without the ability to back it up with action can just be empty words.
00:55Where threats to one are known by all, goes a long way ensuring that whoever is on the receiving end of aggression and provocation
01:04is then, therefore, by definition, not alone.
01:08In the last several years, we've seen a technological revolution in the tools that enable greater maritime domain awareness.
01:16No one can innovate and scale like the United States of America, and we're eager to share those capabilities with allies and partners.
01:27Unmanned aircraft and surface and undersea vessels are supplementing and sometimes replacing ships and planes for this task.
01:37These and other technological advances are creating remarkable operational impacts at lower cost and risk, your forces and our forces.
01:48I propose we work together to develop and field the operational concepts in unmanned systems that can enable greater awareness in the maritime domain.
01:58We're stronger when the tools and the skills that we have are wielded together.
02:05Minister Cicaba and fellow ministers, thank you for allowing us the platform and the opportunity here with this group to further the discussion.
02:14We're interested in hearing everyone's perspectives.
02:16I think it's important that this region hears from the United States, from President Trump, from myself.
02:21Yes, we are pursuing peace and strength.
02:25The compass we have is oriented on common sense, and we are implementing America first.
02:30But America first does not mean America alone.
02:33It means with our allies and partners.
02:37Hi, since you are here, why don't you talk to the local media this month?
02:41Are you happy with the meeting so far?
02:43What?
02:43Are you happy with the meeting so far?
02:45It's a beautiful country.
02:45It's a beautiful country.
02:46It's a beautiful country.
02:47It's a gracious house.
02:48And since it's local media, we've opened the chat.
02:50Thank you for hosting us.
02:51What kind of nuclear would you be testing?
02:53Oh, we'll comment on that later.
02:55Of course, we have very capable nuclear capabilities of testing.
02:59But do you think you have succeeded in regaining trust of all the regional partners?
03:05Well, I don't think we lost it.
03:06And we're very focused in the Indo-Pacific.
03:08We've been in a Pacific country for a very long time.
03:11We're never gone and aren't going anywhere.
03:13We're really proud of the partnership we have here at ADMN Plus and in ASEAN.
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