U.S. Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick M. Shanahan is greeted by the commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, Navy Adm. Philip S. Davidson, upon arrival at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, May 28, 2019.

U.S. Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick M. Shanahan is greeted by the commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, Navy Adm. Philip S. Davidson, upon arrival at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, May 28, 2019. DoD / Lisa Ferdinando

Shanahan Heads to Asia as White House Beats Drums on Iran

The acting defense secretary is expected to detail how the Pentagon is implementing a strategic shift away from counterterrorism.

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Amid questions about the U.S. strategy for dealing with China, and as the Pentagon prepares to dispatch more troops to the Middle East, acting defense secretary Patrick Shanahan is in Asia this week on his first major international trip since being tapped by President Trump to hold the position permanently.

In a few days, Shanahan is expected to deliver a major policy speech at the annual IISS Shangri-La Dialogue security conference in Singapore, detailing the Pentagon’s implementation of a 2018 strategy document that called for the United States to shift focus from counterterrorism toward competition with China and Russia. But his visit began just days after the Trump administration announced that it would send another 900 troops to the Middle East because of alleged threats from Iran.

Senior Pentagon officials deny that the Defense Department has been distracted by potential conflict in the Middle East. Shanahan told reporters traveling with him to Asia on Tuesday that he is “extremely disciplined that part of managing my time and the department’s time.”

“The most important thing we can do with the National Defense Strategy is execute it at this point,” Shanahan said. “We have the capacity to spin a lot of plates… There are strategic priorities and then there are operational priorities. And you have to be able to do both."

Related: China’s Risky Middle East Bet

Related: Trump’s ‘Maximum Pressure’ Won’t Make Iran Yield

Related: Who Wins When U.S.-Iran Tensions Rise? China

A senior defense official told reporters on Friday that Shanahan’s eight-day trip to the region — including to Shangri-La, the largest gathering of Asia-Pacific defense ministers — “underscores the importance and the commitment that we have to the region.”

“Our strategy and our commitment to the [Indo-Pacific] region is more comprehensive, it’s more than just military,” the official said.

The visit comes amid heightened tensions with China. The Trump administration has launched a burgeoning trade war, while the U.S. military has recently sent warships through the Taiwan Strait and conducted other operations meant to send various signals to Beijing.

Shanahan said Tuesday that he expected U.S. officials to discuss trade and security concerns with China on different diplomatic tracks.

“I think the two are separate and we can have a very candid discussions about intellectual property theft or militarization of the South China Sea,” he said. Trade negotiations “are difficult issues, but I don’t believe they’ll spill over into our dialogue and discussions on defense.”

There are tensions as well in the United States-Japan relationship, long a bulwark of U.S. security policy. On a visit to Tokyo earlier this week, President Trump publicly contradicted Prime Minister Shinzo Abe over the recent testing of short-range ballistic missiles in North Korea. Trump said that the recent test “doesn’t matter,” while Abe called it “a regrettable act” and a threat to Japanese security. On Tuesday, Shanahan appeared to back Abe’s position that the missile test violated United Nations Security Council resolutions.

Shanahan’s speech is expected to coincide with the release of a Pentagon report about efforts to follow the National Defense Strategy unveiled by then-Secretary Jim Mattis. It will lay out “how we’re making sure we’re investing right in armed forces capabilities, capacity, and geography across the region to maintain deterrence and respond to any contingency,” the senior defense official said. “It’s a lot more than freedom of navigation and overflight. It’s a lot more that Taiwan strait transits. It’s about using investments to empower like-minded countries to be able to defend their interests and be able to support our common vision.”

In December, when Shanahan took over for his hustled-out-the-door predecessor, he said that the Pentagon’s focus would be “China, China, China.” Now the acting secretary will meet with his Chinese almost-counterpart on the sidelines of Shangri-La. “The implementation of the national defense strategy is my top priority. China is the priority within the National Defense Strategy,” he said Tuesday.

Shanahan is also scheduled to visit Japan, South Korea and Indonesia, but officials laid out no specific deliverables from the eight-day trip. Asked what message he would have for the Chinese defense minister, Shanahan said the meeting was about having a dialogue.

“The value of these trips is really to spend time on the relationship. It’s the bilateral exchange and identifying priorities,” he said. “I’m not there to sell.”

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.