US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth delivered a stark warning to China and Russia on Monday, declaring that the United States is rebuilding military dominance to a level so absolute that its enemies would “not dare” test it.
Addressing shipyard workers and naval personnel at Newport News Shipbuilding, the nation’s largest military shipyard, Hegseth pointed to the recent US military operation in Venezuela as evidence of renewed American military readiness and the limits of non-American defence technology.
“We’re re-establishing deterrence that’s so absolute and so unquestioned that our enemies will not dare to test us,” Hegseth said. He added that under previous US administrations, the world had begun “wondering” whether America was still strong enough to lead. “Well, that’s over now,” he concluded.
Hegseth, a former Fox News anchor appointed by US President Donald Trump to lead the Pentagon, cited last weekend’s US military action in Venezuela, which ended with the arrest of Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, quipping that it “seems those Russian air defences didn’t quite work so well”.
Venezuela’s integrated air defence system is built mainly on Russian technology, including S-300VM and Buk-M2E systems.
The US raid on Caracas unfolded against the backdrop of Venezuela’s deepening alliances with Washington’s primary geopolitical adversaries: China, Russia and Iran.
In a symbolic display of continued support, the ambassadors from these three nations were among the first foreign diplomats to publicly congratulate interim President Delcy Rodriguez following her swearing-in on Monday.
Speaking on a nationwide tour of shipyards and factories dubbed “Arsenal of Freedom” – a call to modernise the US military-industrial complex, Hegseth asserted that after the Venezuela operation, the “world is taking notice”.
“They’re noticing American power. They’re noticing American strength. They’re noticing American clarity and leadership,” he said.
Hegseth said that while the US sought “good relations” with China and the rest of the world, it was also prepared for conflict, describing the current moment as a “new era of great power competition” and a “generational struggle to maintain peace through strength”.
“Our purpose is not to be reactive, but to be dominant, so that no enemy, any enemy, will ever attempt to challenge the United States of America,” he warned.
China’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In November 2025, Hegseth spoke with his Chinese counterpart, Admiral Dong Jun, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, with both sides agreeing that “peace, stability and good relations are the best path for our two great and strong countries”.
His remarks back then, however, came just hours after he urged Southeast Asian nations to strengthen their maritime forces to counter what he described as China’s increasingly “destabilising” actions in the South China Sea.
Beijing claims nearly the entire waterway, despite overlapping claims by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei. The Philippines, a key US ally, has repeatedly clashed with China’s maritime forces, as Washington maintains a significant military presence in the region to Beijing’s dismay.
“Make no mistake, under President Trump, the United States is serious about the command of our seas and about keeping the world’s vital shipping lanes open,” Hegseth said on Monday.
In pitching a revival of American shipbuilding to counter China’s naval expansion, Hegseth blamed Washington “elites” for a decades-long bipartisan consensus that assumed the rise of peer competitors was a thing of the past and that the US could trade its industrial base for the “hollow promises of globalism”.
China now accounts for roughly half of global commercial shipbuilding and constructed more than 1,000 vessels in 2024. By contrast, the US built just eight.
The US has only a handful of major shipyards dedicated exclusively to military production, many of which face labour shortages and ageing infrastructure.
Last month, the Trump administration announced the Navy’s intent to develop a new class of American-designed, 30,000 to 40,000-tonne large surface battleships, which it said will be “employed to meet the realities of modern maritime conflict”.
On Monday, Hegseth said a “larger, more modern and more lethal fleet, from new battleships of the Golden Fleet to advanced submarines, would provide undeniable deterrence”.
“It will ensure that America’s Navy moves freely and uncontested today, tomorrow and long into the future,” he said. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
