00:00For the first time in more than a decade, the U.S. Pentagon chief avoided mentioning Taiwan at the Shangri
00:06-La Dialogue.
00:07That's an annual security forum held in Singapore, bringing together representatives from more than 40 countries.
00:14U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth spoke about the need for U.S. allies to increase defense spending amid warnings
00:21of China's military build-up.
00:23But he did not mention Taiwan in his speech at the forum.
00:27Taiwan's Defense Minister Wellington Koo says he remains confident in U.S.-Taiwan exchanges.
00:35Taiwan is in the first-hand side of the world, and is in the first-hand side of the world's
00:42defense.
00:43We must strengthen our self-hand side of the world, and we will continue to cooperate with the U.S.-Taiwan
00:51and the U.S.-Taiwan.
00:53For more on the Shangri-La Dialogue, our reporter Larry Eastiano spoke with William Yang from the International Crisis Group.
01:02Although he mentioned the threat posed by China and the need for regional allies to do more, U.S. Secretary
01:06of Defense Pete Hegseth did not mention Taiwan.
01:09Why do you think that is?
01:10I think it's very clear that Secretary Hegseth is trying to align his rhetorics with President Trump's vision about U
01:22.S.-China relations and the trajectory of U.S.-China development since the summit in May.
01:29Skipping the mention of Taiwan and replacing it with the larger idea of First Island chain is also, in fact,
01:38in line with the national defense strategy's language.
01:42And so I think we should also view this as a possible strategic positioning from the Trump administration, where on
01:52the issue of Taiwan, their way of maintaining the strategic ambiguity is to avoid mentioning Taiwan and focusing more on
02:03the larger region in general.
02:05Do you think this ties into U.S. President Donald Trump's reported decision to delay a phone call with Taiwan's
02:12President Lai Xingde until China's President Xi Jinping visits the states in September?
02:16It's pretty clear that at this point, President Trump's priority is to focus on stabilizing the U.S. relationship with
02:27China and, you know, continue to avoid increasing the tension by putting too much emphasis on the contentious geopolitical issues.
02:41And in this case, obviously, in this case, we saw President Trump now still has not made a decision on
02:50the $14 billion arms package that the Congress has already passed and approved for Taiwan.
02:58And I think Taiwan should certainly read all these recent developments as a potential trend that the issue of Taiwan
03:11could continue to be deprioritized.
03:14How do you think this ties into the broader U.S. stance towards the Indo-Pacific region and the Taiwan
03:19Strait?
03:19Do you think the last few months have seen some sort of shift in U.S. commitments?
03:23I think this also doesn't mean that the U.S. is already fundamentally shifting its policy toward Taiwan.
03:32It, I think, simply means that the issue of Taiwan, it's being deprioritized.
03:38You know, I think Taipei needs to adjust its expectation when it comes to U.S. public declaration of support
03:46for Taiwan.
03:47That, you know, a lot of the, I think, support might, in fact, come in more concrete but more low
03:55-key forms.
03:56I think what has not changed is the continuous U.S. emphasis on the importance of working with allies in
04:08the region upholding deterrence along the First Island chain and also making sure that China does not achieve the overall
04:18dominance across the Indo-Pacific region.
04:20But on the other hand, what has changed is the visibly softer tone on competition with China.
04:30There is now a lot more emphasis on the U.S. willing to respect and, you know, China's position to
04:37some extent.
04:39That was International Crisis Group senior analyst William Yang.
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