Kuala Lumpur, Nov. 2 -- US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth expressed grave concern over China's growing military assertiveness around Taiwan and in the South China Sea during his first face-to-face meeting with China's Minister of National Defense Admiral Dong Jun in Malaysia on October 31.

The meeting, held alongside a summit of Southeast Asian defence chiefs, followed a day after US President Donald Trump's talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea, as reported by The Epoch Times.

According to The Epoch Times, Hegseth stated on X that he underscored the "importance of maintaining a balance of power in the Indo-Pacific," emphasising America's concerns about China's increasing activities that threaten Taiwan and regional allies....