Hegseth heads for Manila defence talks as US seeks to reassure Asia-Pacific partners

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth will attend a Southeast Asian defence meeting in the Philippines this week alongside defence counterparts from India, South Korea and Japan, as Washington looks to solidify ties with the region.

The talks, known as the ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus), bring together defence officials from the 11-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations plus eight of the bloc's dialogue partners. Australia, New Zealand, Russia and China are also expected to send representatives to the meeting, which runs from Wednesday to Thursday. A parallel ASEAN members-only event will be held for Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam.

India is among the dialogue partners that will host bilateral meetings on the sidelines of ADMM-Plus, according to state media, to "review the ongoing defence ties and explore ways to further strengthen strategic partnerships."

Analysts say the focus will be on regional security concerns including Myanmar's civil war and maritime disputes between ASEAN states and China. "The South China Sea dispute is going to be front and centre because the Philippines is the chair of this year's summit," said William Yang, senior analyst for Northeast Asia at the International Crisis Group. He said he expects Manila to push for ASEAN to finalise a code of conduct with China governing maritime disputes.

The Philippines, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan hold overlapping territorial claims in the South China Sea, where Beijing claims most of the waterway as domestic waters. Tensions escalated this month with at least "eight close encounters" in the South China Sea and nearby Luzon Strait, according to the US Naval Institute. The friction turned into a war of words after Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Jing Quan said Beijing could "easily win" a war with the Philippines, prompting a Philippine senator to call for his expulsion.

Beijing has not confirmed whether Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun will attend in person, but he could make a last-minute appearance. Dong attended ADMM-Plus in 2024 and 2025, according to Bonnie Glaser, managing director of the German Marshall Fund's Indo-Pacific Program. "I would not be surprised if Dong meets with Secretary Hegseth, especially since China has repeatedly said that it attaches importance to strengthening crisis communications and preventing crises between the US and Chinese militaries," Glaser told Al Jazeera by email.

Analysts say the bulk of Hegseth's work will be reassuring the bloc and its partners that the US remains committed to the region after a year in which Washington moved some military assets from South Korea and Japan to the Middle East amid its conflict with Iran. Trump has also reportedly delayed a major arms package to Taiwan ahead of a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in November, before the Group of 20 leaders' summit in December. The two leaders have already met twice this year.

Ja Ian Chong, a political scientist at the National University of Singapore, said Hegseth's approach would be watched closely given recent comments by US defence official Elbridge Colby suggesting Washington would focus less on empty gestures and more on substance in the Asia-Pacific. "How Hegseth keeps to these lines while trying to keep a US advantage will be interesting, since these are not easy calibrations to make," Chong said.