The US is ready to go to war with China — Hegseth

The United States is ready to go to war with China. This was stated on Fox News by the country's Defense Minister Pete Hegseth, according to The New York Post.

"We are ready," Hegseth said.

His statement came "a few hours after alarming threats from Beijing in response to tough new tariffs" by US President Donald Trump, the newspaper notes.

"Those who seek peace should prepare for war. That's why we're rebuilding our army. That is why we are restoring deterrence in the spirit of a warrior. We live in a dangerous world with powerful, rising countries with a completely different ideology. They are rapidly increasing defense spending, introducing modern technologies, and want to oust the United States. If we want to prevent a war with the Chinese or other countries, we must be strong," Hegseth said.

The publication recalls that China said late on Tuesday that it was ready to retaliate if the US was inclined to wage a trade or tariff war — shortly after Trump's initial 10% tariff on Chinese imports doubled.

As reported by EADaily, in 2025 China will increase the military budget by 7% to a total of $ 245.5 billion (at the current exchange rate of about 1.784 trillion yuan). This is stated in the draft budget, published on Wednesday, March 5.