US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth delivered an extremely hawkish speech in which he demonized China as a "threat" and said, "We are preparing for war". Ben Norton analyzes the top Trump admin official's aggressive remarks at the Shangri-La Dialogue 2025 summit. He explains the geopolitics of the Asia-Pacific region, and Washington's unsuccessful attempt to pressure countries to join its new cold war on Beijing.

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLOTTVI_LAA

US defense secretary declared 'holy war' on China, left & Islam: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2025/03/07/us-defense-secretary-hegseth-overthrow-china-crusade/

Is war on China coming? The US military is seriously preparing: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2025/04/28/us-military-war-china-silicon-valley/

Topics

0:00 (CLIPS) US defense secretary speech

0:30 US military prepares for war

1:05 (CLIP) "We are preparing for war"

1:25 Trump admin's war threats

1:55 (CLIP) Trump "will never hesitate to" use force

2:13 (CLIP) "Deterrence" and war

2:24 Shangri-La Dialogue 2025 summit

2:41 Asia-Pacific region

3:59 (CLIP) USA is "here to stay" in "Indo-Pacific"

4:19 US empire seeks hegemony

4:50 (CLIP) Pentagon says China is a "threat"

5:11 Pete Hegseth, extremist US "crusader"

6:31 Myth of Chinese "hegemony"

7:24 (CLIP) Hegseth on China "threat"

8:01 China opposes hegemony

9:34 China doesn't want hegemony

10:33 US pressures Asia to cut ties with China

11:17 (CLIP) USA opposes "economic cooperation"

11:47 Taiwan

13:05 (CLIP) Hegseth on Taiwan

13:32 Hegseth's hawkish rhetoric

13:56 (CLIP) US "warfighters" and "warfighting"

14:31 US military budget of $1 trillion

14:40 (CLIP) Trump boosts US military spending

15:02 Military interventions

15:32 (CLIP) USA tells Asia: Join us against China

15:48 US divide-and-conquer strategy is failing

16:23 China, Japan, South Korea cooperate

16:47 Trump's tariff threats

17:25 RCEP trade deal

17:55 ASEAN-GCC-China summit

18:36 India

18:43 (CLIP) Hegseth on US-India partnership

19:00 India-China relations

20:24 Philippines volunteers to be Ukraine of Asia

21:21 US military bases and missiles in Philippines

21:51 Militarization of first island chain

22:48 Regional non-alignment

23:19 Philippines and Australia

24:40 Colonialist Monroe Doctrine

25:03 (CLIP) Hegseth threatens Panama Canal

25:31 US imperialism is bipartisan

26:03 Biden official praises Trump's China policy

27:02 Republicans vs Democrats

27:39 US empire says war is peace

28:32 (CLIP) USA doesn't seek encirclement?

28:45 US "grand encirclement plan" for China

29:34 Biden admin's China policy

30:02 (CLIP) Antony Blinken on China containment

30:15 Imperial hypocrisy

31:05 Cold War Two

31:54 Silicon Valley profits from war preparations

32:15 Outro