He said he and US President Donald Trump agree that relations between the United States and China have never been better than they are now.
Hegseth noted that the day before he had a conversation with the Chinese Minister of National Defense, Admiral Dong Jun.
“The Admiral and I agree that peace, stability and good relations are the best path forward for our two great and strong countries. As President Trump said, his historic 'G2 meeting' set the tone for everlasting peace and success for the United States and China. […] Admiral Dong and I also agreed to establish military communication channels to avoid conflict and de-escalate any potential problems. We have several more meetings planned on this issue in the near future,” the statement said.
And only in connection with President Trump, and we are – this relationship between the US and China will not be better. Next President Trump's historic meeting with Chairman Xi in South Korea, I am an environmentally positive meeting with my counterpart, China's Minister of…
— Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) November 1, 2025
Context
Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping met in South Korea during the leader's Indo-Pacific tour and discussed an agreement that would see the U.S. cut the tariff in half (from 20% to 10%) on Chinese fentanyl-related products and temporarily suspend the rare earth licensing regime for at least one year.
Trump rated the meeting a “12 out of 10.” They also talked for a long time about the war in Ukraine, started by the aggressor country of the Russian Federation. In his new short message, Trump noted that the summit was “great for both countries.”
The last time they met was in 2019 in the Japanese city of Osaka during the G20 summit.
