US War Secretary headed to Singapore; to meet with PM Wong, Chan Chun Sing & speak at Shangri-La Dialogue

SINGAPORE: Pete Hegseth, the United States Secretary of War, will be in Singapore in the next few days on his fourth official visit to the region.

Mr Hegseth will be meeting with Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and Defence Minister Chan Chun Sing, according to an announcement from the US Department of War. He will be participating in a number of bilateral and multilateral meetings with allies and partners in the region.

“He will also deliver plenary remarks at the Shangri-La Dialogue focused on the Department’s forward-looking, common-sense approach to safeguarding U.S. vital national interests in the Indo-Pacific,” the announcement added.

The Shangri-La Dialogue, held yearly, is organised by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). It is the premier defence summit in Asia, where key stakeholders discuss important security challenges in the region.

Held at the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore, it is scheduled this year from May 29 to 31, with the Keynote Address to be delivered by Tô Lâm, the President of Vietnam, on May 29 at 8 p.m. Singapore time.

Mr Hegseth, meanwhile, will deliver his remarks at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday morning, May 30.

It was reported on Tuesday that Dong Jun, China’s Defence Minister, will be missing this year’s dialogue for the second year in a row. Sources familiar with the matter said that a lower-level People’s Liberation Army (PLA) delegation will be attending the dialogue in Singapore instead, according to the South China Morning Post.

Who is Pete Hegseth?

Mr Hegseth, 45, served in the US military several times between 2003 and 2021, including guarding detainees at  Guantanamo Bay detention camp, volunteering in the Iraq War as an infantry officer, and later serving as a civil affairs officer, and working as a counterinsurgency instructor in the US and Afghanistan. He currently holds the rank of major.

After a failed bid for the US Senate in 2012, he worked at Fox News from 2014 to 2024, later becoming one of the hosts of Fox & Friends Weekend, where he caught the eye of Donald Trump. He supported Mr Trump’s first presidential campaign and later became one of his advisors.

After Mr Trump won the election in 2024, he named Mr Hegseth as s his nominee for Secretary of Defense, despite the numerous lawsuits and allegations against Mr Hegseth, including sexual assault. He was confirmed in the position after Vice President JD Vance cast a tie-breaking vote. In 2025, the Defense Department was renamed the Department of War. /TISG