Overview
- U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met Chinese Defense Minister Admiral Dong Jun in Malaysia and said they agreed to set up direct channels to prevent conflicts and defuse incidents.
- Hegseth described the talks as positive and said additional meetings are planned to work out the mechanism, with no timeline or technical details disclosed so far.
- After praising bilateral ties, Hegseth also criticized Beijing’s expansive South China Sea claims, highlighting the mixed messaging noted by reporters and analysts.
- The step follows last week’s Trump–Xi meeting in Busan, where both leaders signaled a thaw and cast the relationship as entering a new phase.
- In a separate regional signal, Hegseth visited the Korean Demilitarized Zone as Reuters reported Washington is weighing a more flexible role for U.S. forces in South Korea.