US remains engaged in Asia, calls for partners’ increased defense contributions to maintain favorable balance.

During a speech in Manila, Elbridge Colby, the Pentagon’s Undersecretary for Defense Policy, told listeners that Washington is not withdrawing from Southeast Asia. He said the U.S. is "digging in" to keep a favourable balance of power in the Indo‑Pacific. Colby emphasized that allies should step up their own defence spending. He warned against any sense of abandonment and urged a partnership model, not a protectorate relationship. The Manila address was the opening stop of a trip that will take Colby to Indonesia, Thailand and Cambodia. He noted the strategic importance of the First Island Chain, the line of islands that runs from Japan through Taiwan, the Philippines and Borneo. Maintaining a deterrence posture along that chain requires more than U.S. forces alone; it relies on partners investing in their own security. The official stressed that when partners are strong, deterrence is stronger. Overall, the remarks underline a U.S. policy of staying present in Asia while encouraging greater burden‑sharing among allies.