President Trump Announces Upcoming Visit to China in April

Army Secretary Pete Hegseth mentioned on Saturday that following discussions with his Chinese counterpart, the United States and China intend to set up communication channels between their militaries. This is aimed at “de-conflicting and alleviating potential problems.”

In a post on X, Hegseth described his meeting with Chinese Defense Minister Admiral Dong Jun as “positive,” which took place after President Donald Trump’s meeting with President Xi Jinping of China. Both defense leaders concurred that the future should focus on “peace, stability, and good relations.”

“Admiral Dong and I also found common ground on the need for military-to-military channels to settle conflicts and ease emerging issues. We’ll be following up on this soon. God bless both China and the United States!” Hegseth expressed.

Hegseth attended another meeting that day in Malaysia with leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), where he urged a collective response to China’s assertive actions in the South China Sea. “China’s far-reaching territorial and maritime claims in the South China Sea are at odds with its promises to resolve disputes peacefully,” he remarked during this meeting.

He emphasized, “Our goal is peace, not conflict. However, we must ensure that China doesn’t try to dominate anyone else.” The South China Sea remains a tense area, with overlapping territorial claims from China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Brunei.

There have been numerous confrontations between China’s maritime fleet and the Philippines over disputed territories. Chinese officials recently criticized the Philippines, labeling it a “troublemaker,” particularly as it conducts joint exercises with U.S., Australian, and New Zealand forces.

During the Saturday meeting, Hegseth defended U.S. allies, arguing that Beijing’s claim over Scarborough Shoal—territory taken from the Philippines in 2012—designated as a “nature reserve,” is “yet another attempt to expand maritime and territorial claims.” He also called on ASEAN to finalize a code of conduct with China, suggesting a shared maritime awareness network to quickly address provocations so that “no Member State feels isolated in the face of aggression.”

Hegseth welcomed plans for a maritime exercise between ASEAN and the U.S. in December that aims to bolster cooperation and uphold navigational freedom.