TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said Tuesday that China has not decided whether to invade Taiwan.
During a Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chair General Dan Caine fielded questions from senators over the Department of Defense budget for 2026, per CNA.
When asked by Senator Lindsey Graham if China is preparing to invade Taiwan, Hegseth said, “We don't believe they have made that decision yet, but certainly if you look at their exercises that they are performing in that area, they look a lot like … what that would look like.”
When Graham posed the same question to Caine, he said, “I think if they could get them their way, for sure. Do I think they're going to use military capability? Maybe, maybe not. Do we need to be prepared for that? Yes.”
The senator said there needed to be stronger deterrence and increased defense expenditures, arguing that a lack of action might embolden rivals like Iran, China, and Russia. “China is an expansionist power who will take Taiwan if we don't deter them," warned Graham.
Graham said China and India buy 70% of Russia's oil and urged the Trump administration to back a Senate bill that would impose 500% tariffs on countries that buy Russian energy. “We got to end this war so we don't entice China to take Taiwan and we don't encourage Iran to think we're just all talk in stopping their nuclear ambitions.”
On Tuesday, Hegseth told the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, “The Indo-Pacific is our priority theater and China our pacing threat."
