The Shangri-La Dialogue security meeting in Singapore has long been marked by U.S.-China rivalry, but Beijing's relative retreat at the weekend exposed a new fault line — tensions between the U.S. and Europe over Asia.
Even as he warned in a speech on Saturday that China posed an "imminent" threat, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made clear he wanted Europeans to concentrate on European security as they boosted military budgets.
"We would much prefer that the overwhelming balance of European investment be on that continent ... so that as we partner there, which we will continue to do, we're able to use our comparative advantage as an Indo-Pacific nation to support our partners here," he said.
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