US leaders send mixed messages to Indo-Pacific nations

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand — Army officials from 25 different Indo-Pacific nations recently met in New Zealand to hammer out cooperative defense strategies. Simultaneously, the top political leaders in the United States were sending conflicting messages about its partnerships in the region.

The 50th Indo-Pacific Armies Management Seminar (IPAMS) was held in Auckland in late September, and it emphasized “practical cooperation, interoperability and regional partnerships.”

This year’s IPAMS theme was that “the sum is greater than the parts: security and deterrence in the Indo-Pacific.”

“Across this region, land forces are the backbone of deterrence, security cooperation and the connective tissue that binds nations together,” said Lt. Gen. Joel Vowell, deputy commander of U.S. Army Pacific.

“When our armies train, communicate and plan collectively, we generate a deterrence effect that is far stronger than any individual nation could achieve alone,” he added.

Brig. Hamish Gibbons, New Zealand’s deputy Chief of Army, struck a similar chord, saying collective strength comes from trusted relationships, and a shared commitment to the security of the Indo-Pacific region.

That region covers more than half the Earth’s surface and comprises 40 nations, including China.

Senior land force leaders participate in a panel discussion during the 50th Indo-Pacific Armies Management Seminar (IPAMS) in Auckland, New Zealand, Sept. 23, 2026. (U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Carolina Sierra)

At exactly the same time as IPAMS was being held, President Donald Trump was welcoming Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping onto American turf.

Afterwards, David Perdue, the U.S. Ambassador to China, relayed one head-scratching moment when he revealed Trump had offered to sell military weapons to Beijing. Officials in Washington have since said there are no actual plans in the works to that end.

Ryan Hass of the U.S.-based Brookings Institution said the offer amounted to a break with longstanding Washington policy.

“If there was any ambiguity about whether President Trump views China as a security threat, this disclosure by Perdue puts the question to rest,” Hass wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Trump’s offer to sell weapons to China will be unsettling to American partners at the pointy edge of China’s spear.”

Unease was already fermenting as Trump withholds large arms sales packages to Taiwan.

In an open letter published on Sep. 22, Rupert Hammond-Chambers, President of the U.S.-Taiwan Business Council, warned of the damage being caused by Trump’s arms freeze on Taiwan.

“The Trump administration has let the fox in the henhouse,” Hammond-Chambers wrote. “Telegraphing sensitivity to the Chinese position on Taiwan this past spring, Trump has empowered China to affect his decisions.”

He said the notion that appeasing China will result in a quid pro quo concession is false, since the Chinese Communist Party outright rejects any responsibility to change its own aggressive behavior.

Some analysts chalked up the cozy Trump-Xi interactions as an expression of the U.S. president’s penchant for pomp.

“Trump may say things off the cuff that make Taipei (and U.S. allies) uncomfortable, but that will not change the long-term trajectory and trend of U.S. security commitments to Taiwan,” Drew Thompson of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore wrote.

The arms-sales comments, he said, would not affect cross-strait relations, as they are not progressing towards Beijing’s primary objective of peaceful unification.

Gordon Arthur is an Asia correspondent for Defense News. After a 20-year stint working in Hong Kong, he now resides in New Zealand. He has attended military exercises and defense exhibitions in about 20 countries around the Asia-Pacific region.

新西兰基督城——来自25个印太地区的国家陆军官员近日齐聚新西兰，商讨合作防御战略。与此同时，美国最高政治领导人就其在该地区的伙伴关系发出了相互矛盾的信息。

第 50 届印太陆军管理研讨会（IPAMS）于 9 月下旬在奥克兰举行，会议强调了“务实合作、互操作性和区域伙伴关系”。

今年的IPAMS主题是“整体大于部分之和：印太地区的安全与威慑”。

“在这一地区，陆军是威慑、安全合作的支柱，也是将各国联系在一起的纽带，”美国太平洋陆军副司令乔尔·沃维尔中将说。

“当我们的军队进行集体训练、沟通和计划时，我们产生的威慑效果远远强于任何一个国家单独行动所能达到的效果，”他补充道。

新西兰陆军副司令哈米什·吉本斯准将也表达了类似的观点，他说，集体的力量来自于相互信任的关系，以及对印太地区安全的共同承诺。

该地区覆盖地球表面一半以上的面积，包括中国在内的 40 个国家。

2026年9月23日，在新西兰奥克兰举行的第50届印太陆军管理研讨会（IPAMS）上，陆军高级领导人参加了小组讨论。（美国陆军一级军士长卡罗琳娜·塞拉摄）

就在IPAMS会议召开的同时，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普正在美国欢迎中国国家主席习近平访问美国。

随后，美国驻华大使戴维·珀杜透露了一个令人费解的消息：特朗普曾提出向北京出售军火。华盛顿官员随后表示，目前并没有这方面的实际计划。

美国布鲁金斯学会的瑞安·哈斯表示，这一提议相当于打破了华盛顿长期以来的政策。

“如果之前人们对特朗普总统是否将中国视为安全威胁还有任何疑问，那么珀杜的这一披露彻底消除了这种疑虑，”哈斯在X（前身为Twitter）上写道。“特朗普向中国出售武器的提议，会让那些处于中国矛尖的美国伙伴感到不安。”

特朗普扣留对台大宗武器销售计划，已经引发了不安情绪。

9月22日，美台贸易全国委员会主席鲁珀特·哈蒙德·钱伯斯发表公开信，警告特朗普对台湾的武器冻结政策正在造成损害。

哈蒙德-钱伯斯写道：“特朗普政府无异于让狐狸进了鸡舍。今年春天，特朗普对中国在台湾问题上的立场表现出的敏感，实际上是赋予了中国影响其决策的权力。”

他表示，认为安抚中国就能换取某种交换条件的想法是错误的，因为中国共产党断然拒绝承担任何改变其侵略行为的责任。

一些分析人士将特朗普与习近平的亲密互动归因于美国总统喜欢排场的倾向。

新加坡拉惹勒南国际关系学院的德鲁·汤普森写道：“特朗普可能会即兴说出​​一些让台北（和美国盟友）感到不舒服的话，但这不会改变美国对台湾安全承诺的长期轨迹和趋势。”

他表示，有关军售的言论不会影响两岸关系，因为这些言论并没有朝着北京和平统一的首要目标迈进。

戈登·阿瑟是《防务新闻》的亚洲特派记者。在香港工作20年后，他现居新西兰。他曾到访亚太地区约20个国家，参加过军事演习和防务展览。