By Wu Minwen
US Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby publicly stated that the Asia-Pacific region holds top priority in US global strategy and that the US will not disengage from Asia, while demanding that regional allies assume greater defense responsibilities.
In the 2026 National Defense Strategy report released by the US earlier this year, Washington's focus shifted toward the Western Hemisphere. Following Donald Trump's visit to China in May this year, the US government noticeably toned down its rhetoric against China. The US even renamed the "Indo-Pacific Command" on June 16 back to its former designation, the "Pacific Command."
However, various signs indicate that although the Trump administration has made certain policy adjustments regarding the so-called "Indo-Pacific Strategy," this by no means implies that the US has abandoned it.
The so-called "Indo-Pacific Strategy" is a US regional strategy aimed at containing China's rise, launched during the previous Trump administration. Since then, however, China's comprehensive national strength has continued to grow. Take the US-China trade war and tariff war as examples: far from curbing the substantial growth of China's trade, they instead increased the cost of imported goods in the US, continuously drove up domestic prices, and sparked widespread public dissatisfaction.
The continuous growth of China's soft and hard power has heightened US anxieties over the erosion of its hegemonic status. Consequently, the US will not fundamentally abandon the so-called "Indo-Pacific Strategy"—it has merely adopted a lower profile. References emphasizing the so-called "Indo-Pacific Strategy" can still be found in numerous strategic documents of the current Trump administration.
The US released the current administration's National Security Strategy on December 5, 2025, pledging to "keep the Indo-Pacific free and open" through "building alliances and strengthening partnerships in the Indo-Pacific". The US issued the 2026 National Defense Strategy on January 23 this year, asserting that in the so-called "Indo-Pacific," China has achieved an unprecedented military rise, thereby becoming the most serious and consequential long-term strategic competitor facing the US.
In addition, the US is stepping up ammunition stockpiling and repairing and expanding airfields in the so-called "Indo-Pacific" to bolster combat readiness. As early as the beginning of 2022, the US and Japan planned to increase ammunition stockpiles at military facilities in Japan to prepare for potential regional conflicts. In November 2024, when the Biden administration provided Ukraine with large quantities of Patriot air defense missiles and other munitions, then-US Indo-Pacific Command Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo voiced concerns that this would weaken US combat readiness in the Asia-Pacific region. Consequently, he called on the US Department of Defense to not only replenish ammunition inventories but also increase the "magazine depth" to prepare for potential conflicts in the so-called "Indo-Pacific."
Another major US combat-readiness measure in the so-called "Indo-Pacific" is the repair and construction of airfields and military bases. The US network of bases in East Asia includes numerous military bases in Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK). In recent years, the US has also expanded the number of military bases available to it in the Philippines from five to nine.
Notably, while adjusting its policies, the US is quietly shifting burdens to its allies. The 2026 National Defense Strategy explicitly called on US allies and partners to increase security burden-sharing. At the Shangri-La Dialogue in May this year, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth stated even more bluntly: "For those who believe they can continue to free ride on the generosity of the American taxpayer, hear us now. Those days are over."
Hegseth commended Japan, the ROK, Australia, India, and several Southeast Asian countries for investing heavily in defense and assisting in burden-sharing. As can be seen from the list, the countries being "praised" mainly include Quad members such as Japan, India, and Australia, as well as the Philippines, which continuously provokes China in the South China Sea and fully supports the so-called "Indo-Pacific Strategy."
Taken together, the above points make one basic fact clear: soaring US military spending, coupled with pressure on allies and partner countries to increase their defense spending, is undoubtedly creating a larger, more complex, and more dangerous military system. Guided by the principle of "America First" and employing "the art of the deal" as a tool, the Trump administration is advancing the so-called "Indo-Pacific Strategy" in a lower-profile and more covert manner, with the aim of securing US regional and global hegemony. Clearly, the Trump administration has not abandoned the so-called "Indo-Pacific Strategy".
Editor's Note: Originally published on zqb.cyol.com, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.