US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth met Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun in person for the first time on Friday, with both sides saying they are pushing for peace a day after a summit between their presidents brought tensions down.
The discussion on the sidelines of the Asean Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus in Malaysia was the first face-to-face meeting between the defence ministers of China and the US since Donald Trump’s return to the White House, although Dong and Hegseth had held a video call in September.
Hegseth described his talks with Dong in Kuala Lumpur as “a good and constructive meeting” in a post on X on Friday.
‘We have a deal’: Trump claims breakthrough after ‘12 out of 10’ talks with Xi Jinping
‘We have a deal’: Trump claims breakthrough after ‘12 out of 10’ talks with Xi Jinping
He said the US did not seek conflict, echoing statements he made during a video call with Dong in September.
Dong said China was committed to peaceful development while resolutely safeguarding its national security interests, and had the full capability to calmly respond to any infringements or provocations, according to a statement from China’s defence ministry.
“We hope the US will implement its statements of not containing China and not seeking conflict with concrete actions,” Dong said.
He said Chinese President Xi Jinping and his counterpart Trump’s successful meeting in South Korea provided strategic guidance for the stable development of China-US relations in their next stage, adding that the defence departments of both countries should take concrete actions to implement the consensus reached by the heads of state.
The Xi-Trump meeting on Thursday was the first between them since Trump began his second term in January. Both sides appeared to show personal warmth and downplay the competitive aspect of the meeting while stating they had achieved some trade negotiation results and expressing an intention to visit each others’ countries.