US Is 'Major’ Cause Of Ukraine War: Beijing Goes On Attack As Hegseth Tells Asia Allies China Threat Is 'Imminent’

China is pushing back hard against new Western criticisms of its foreign policy, as French President Emmanuel Macron and US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth went on the attack, hurling sharp criticisms at Beijing during the ongoing Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore, which noticeably China’s Defense Minister Dong Jun chose to skip.

A fresh, strident Chinese denunciation was formulated at the United Nations in New York. Beijing typically is very careful with its Ukraine war statements, seeking to present itself as an outside, neutral and objective mediator, urging peace. But now Chinese officials are blistering angry over the ramped-up anti-China messaging coming from Washington and Europe. The rhetoric is clearly getting less restrained on all sides, as increasingly hot spots in Eastern Europe get closely linked to Asian flashpoints.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth delivers a speech during the 22nd Shangri-La Dialogue summit in Singapore.

Geng Shuang, China’s deputy permanent representative to the United Nations blasted the United States for playing proxy war against Russia in Ukraine, saying Washington bears „major responsibility” for the outbreak of the conflict.

China’s ambassador to UN further underscored that Beijing „has never provided lethal weapons” to any side US should „stop boring blame game” and instead focus on achieving peace.

„It is not conducive to achieving a cease-fire and ending the war, and runs counter to the common expectations of the international community,” he told the Security Council.

French President Emmanuel Macron called on Indo-Pacific nations to establish a “new coalition” to counter the “constraints and side effects” stemming from the growing U.S.-China rivalry. –CNBC

„We urge all parties to actively forge an atmosphere conducive to peace talks by creating conditions and providing support. We also call on the parties to the conflict to work collectively toward de-escalation and a political solution, rather than persisting with military confrontations and attacks.”

„Just now, the US Representative, once again, spread misinformation and smeared China. This is utterly unacceptable,” said Geng, according to Xinhua. Hegseth’s message in Asia was apparently coming through loud and clear via US representatives in New York on Friday. The Trump administration has of late held the threat of further sanctions over both Moscow and Beijing, given the export of 'dual-use’ (military/industrial) Chinese items to Russia.

US bears 'MAJOR RESPONSIBILITY for outbreak’ of conflict in Ukraine and its 'continuation’ — China’s ambassador to UN

China 'has never provided lethal weapons’ to any side

US should 'stop boring blame game’ and focus on making peace pic.twitter.com/SQkw3xhlp0

— RT (@RT_com) May 30, 2025

The occasion of the Shangri-La Dialogue conference has only served to heighten tensions between the US and China globally, and in the Indo-Pacific region.

„It has to be clear to all that Beijing is credibly preparing to potentially use military force to alter the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific,” Hegseth told delegates, also on Friday, in Singapore.

Hegseth in his remarks blasted China’s regular military drills around Taiwan, as well as 'aggressive’ interventions in the South China Sea, which has of late involved squabbles with coast guard vessels over fishing rights, whether involving US allies The Philippines or Japan. He warned of „devastating consequences” should China seek to „conquer” Taiwan.

„There’s no reason to sugar-coat it. The threat China poses is real, and it could be imminent,” Hegseth declared in the provocative speech.

He further highlighted that China’s defense chief was a no-show at the key regional summit:

“Here in the Indo-Pacific, our futures are bound together,” Hegseth told attendees. “We share your vision of peace and stability, of prosperity and security. And we are here to stay.”

“And as a matter of fact, we are here this morning, somebody else isn’t,” he added.

NEW – Hegseth: „There’s no reason to sugarcoat it — the threat China poses is real and it could be imminent.”pic.twitter.com/ptnFvptey9

— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) May 31, 2025

He urged Asian nations to boost their defense spending, pointing to Germany in Europe, as the latest example of a country realizing the seriousness of threats posed by 'bad actors’ like Russia and China.

„It doesn’t make sense for countries in Europe to do that while key allies in Asia spend less on defense in the face of an even more formidable threat,” the US defense chief said.

Regional analyst and commenter on China affairs Arnaud Bertrand had this reaction to Hegseth’s speech in Shanghai:

This was easily one of the most unhinged and fear-mongering speeches by a Pentagon chief in Asia ever, with relents of the worst times of the Cold War. Funnily enough, Hegseth started his speech by saying that „for a generation, the United States ignored this region” because they were „distracted by open-ended wars, regime change, and nation building” elsewhere. Good start to the speech.

But then his assessment turns negative:

But fear not, Hegseth says, the US are doing their utmost to „shift our focus to this region” in order to answer „the threat China poses”, which „could be imminent”. I’m sure the audience was very reassured How does Hegseth define this „China threat” he’s so worried about? As an „alteration of the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific”, the US being „pushed out of this critical region” and China „conquering Taiwan by force.” In short the „China threat” is… China daring to become more powerful than the US in its own neighborhood.

Below: regional media is full of headlines like the following on Saturday…

Bertrand concludes, „Peak American exceptionalism… Anyhow, all this would be funny if it wasn’t so fundamentally disgusting: at heart this is the US determined to prevent China, the only great power to ever reach this status peacefully, from continuing to modernize and develop itself – because in their zero-sum view of the world the very idea that 1.4 billion people might achieve prosperity without American dominance is apparently intolerable.”