Punitive tariffs and severe aid cuts are shaking the foundations of the US relationship with Asean, deepening a sense of ‘unreliability’
This volatility has deepened a sense of American “unreliability” across Southeast Asia, according to experts who spoke to This Week in Asia.
“There’s no reason to sugar-coat it,” Hegseth said. “The threat China poses is real, and it could be imminent.”
Hegseth called on US allies and partners to share more of the defence burden, stressing that such cooperation would enable Washington to allocate more resources to the Indo-Pacific, describing it as “our priority theatre”.
