US not 'turning back' on Asia allies, but expects them to boost defence, says Hegseth

US not 'turning back' on Asia allies, but expects them to boost defence, says Hegseth2 days agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleTessa WongAsia digital reporter, at the Shangri-La Dialogue in SingaporeWatch: Pete Hegseth addresses Asian allies at Shangri-La summit in SingaporeThe US military is not "turning our backs" on Asia while fulfilling "global obligations" such as the Iran war, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has told a top regional defence forum in Singapore.Hegseth sought to reassure Asia-Pacific allies about US commitment to the region, including fulfilling arms deals in the wake of a suspended Taiwan weapons package - even as he reiterated calls for Asian partners to spend more on defence.While noting the threat of China's military build-up in the region, Hegseth also said the US wanted to avoid "needless confrontation".Hegseth was speaking weeks after US President Donald Trump held positive talks with ​China's President Xi Jinping in Beijing.Hegseth was asked by Japan's defence minister to address concerns about US commitment at the Shangri-La Dialogue on Saturday. Shinjiro Koizumi said "some countries might underestimate" that level of commitment and may want to "drive a wedge" between the US and its allies.Hegseth replied that part of the US national defence strategy was aimed at "power projection" in the Pacific and working with allies."People want to conflate that we have global obligations with the turning of our backs to this region," he said, denying that was the case."We can do two things at one time," he insisted, saying the US was "quietly but very strongly" working with allies with a "substantive, serious approach" to the Pacific, while maintaining "global obligations to ensure that, say, Iran doesn't get a nuclear weapon".Separately, a dialogue participant raised the question of the US's ability t...