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Pete Hegseth spoke at the International Institute for Strategic Studies Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Saturday. (Reuters: Edgar Su)

America will not allow China to dominate Asia, Pete Hegseth has told Asia's premier defence summit.

Mr Hegseth did not mention Taiwan in his speech, as questions continue to swirl over a stalled weapons package.

Australia's Defence Minister Richard Marles warned about the risks to subsea cables after damage to the critical arteries in both the Baltic Sea and the Taiwan Strait.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has declared that the Trump administration will not let China impose "hegemony" on the region, but has skirted any mention of Taiwan in a closely watched speech at Asia's premier defence summit.

Mr Hegseth, also known as the Secretary of War, is the highest-profile speaker at this year's Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, after China decided not to send its defence minister for the second year in a row.

He once again heaped pressure on allies in both Europe and Asia to spend more on defence, saying the US needed "partners not protectorates", declaring America would "speak softly" but "carry a big stick".

He boasted about the Trump administration's record US$1.5 trillion (A$2.085 trillion) defence budget request, saying it would "unleash America's arsenal of freedom and expand America's military dominance for decades to come".

The defence secretary also pointed to US efforts to bolster its military presence along the first island chain, the line of archipelagos stretching from Japan through Taiwan to the Philippines, stressing that Washington DC would not abandon Asia and would work with partners to create a "genuinely stable equilibrium" and a "favourable durable balance of power".