❗️US pushes militarization of 'First Island Chain' during ASEAN defense summit According to a report by Anadolu Agency, US War Secretary Pete Hegseth met with his counterparts from Australia, Japan, and the Philippines today in Cebu City to expand operational military cooperation along the "First Island Chain." Speaking on the sidelines of the 20th ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting, Hegseth declared that Washington is advancing "beyond words to practical cooperation" in order to fortify western military posture and enforcement across the Pacific. The high-level talks in the Philippines featured intense US diplomatic pressure to institutionalize an "ambitious" defense framework between Washington and the 11-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Addressing regional defense chiefs, Hegseth outlined an aggressive strategy aimed at maintaining a western-dominated "balance of power," explicitly pitching joint maritime patrols and forward military readiness under the guise of "peace through strength." While Hegseth held separate bilateral sessions with defense officials from South Korea, India, Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam, Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun notably skipped the Cebu gathering. The absence of Beijing's top military official underscores mounting regional resistance against US efforts to draw Southeast Asian states into multilateral containment alliances targeting China.