US ‘prepared to go to war with China’ says Pete Hegseth in war of words

In an escalating war of words over US tariffs, the US Defence Secretary was responding to a strident statement from China that it was ‘ready to fight any type of war.’

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth meets US military personnel at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. Picture: AFP.

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth says America is “prepared” for war – but does not seek one – after Beijing raised the prospect of Donald Trump’s new regime of sweeping tariffs escalating into an armed conflict.

In another flare-up in relations between Washington and Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian this week declared: “If the US has other agendas in mind and if war is what the US wants – be it a tariff war, a trade war, or any other type of war, we’re ready to fight till the end.”

Asked on Wednesday if China fully stood by that statement, which had been republished by China’s embassy in America, Mr Lin said: “If the US has another agenda in mind, and if harming China’s interests is what the US wants, we’re ready to fight till the end.”

Quizzed about Beijing’s war talk on Wednesday local time on Fox News, Mr Hegseth said “we’re prepared”.

“Those who long for peace must prepare for war. We are,” he said. We are rebuilding our military. That’s why we’re re-establishing deterrence and the warrior ethos, because we live in a dangerous world with powerful, ascendant countries with very different ideologies.”

However, Mr Hegseth said the US President had a “great relationship” with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and America wanted to “partner where we can”.

“We don’t want war with China. We don’t seek that war,” he said. “But my job as the Secretary of Defence is to make sure we’re ready.”

He said America wanted more defence spending, capabilities and weapons focused on the Indo-Pacific to combat China.

“They’re rapidly increasing their defence spending, modern technology. They want to supplant the United States,” he said. “If we want to deter war with the Chinese or others, we have to be strong. And the President understands that peace comes through strength.”

Mr Hegseth’s comments came after China launched a tariff counter-attack on American agricultural products immediately

after Mr Trump’s initial 10 per cent tariff on Chinese imports doubled to 20 per cent.

The tariff tit-for-tat and war talk have come during China’s biggest political gathering, the “Two Sessions”, a particularly sensitive time for Beijing.

Donald Trump looks on as Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth speaks during a cabinet meeting. Picture: AFP.

On Wednesday, Beijing set an economic growth target of “around 5 per cent” for 2025 and ramped up ­defence spending in what analysts called a “rally around the flag” budget that was delivered as Chinese policymakers spar with the US in the ­escalating trade war.

Premier Li Qiang revealed the annual growth target in a keynote address called the “work report”, delivered on Wed­nesday in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People.

Budget papers, also released on Wednesday, show Beijing has increased the People’s Liberation Army’s budget by a nominal 7.2 per cent, continuing a decades-long military build-up that has ­rattled many in the region.

The increase takes China’s ­official military spending to 1.784665 trillion yuan ($398bn) – about eight times the amount Australia spends on defence.

However, analysts believe China’s actual military spending is much higher.

“We will step up military training and combat readiness, speed up the development of new combat capabilities, and establish a framework of modern military theories with Chinese characteristics, so as to firmly safeguard China’s sovereignty, security and development interests,” Mr Li said.

Chinese military analysts told the country’s state media China needed to increase its military spending because of an increasingly fraught international environment.

“Everyone can see that China is facing a growing number of threats and provocations from some foreign countries willing to use every method to hinder our nation’s development and create troubles for us,” one unnamed “military observer” told the China Daily.

“A strong, even formidable military is the guarantee of a country’s peaceful development. This has been proved through numerous cases in history,” he said.