BRIC Team reports: Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth’s speech at Asian security forum to serve as important gauge of whether summit has stabilised US-China relations Zhu Feng, dean of Nanjing University’s School of International Studies, said US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth’s speech at the forum would serve as an important gauge of how much the talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump had helped stabilise bilateral relations. With the Iran war entering its fourth month, analysts said countries in the Asia-Pacific would look for signals about US efforts to end the conflict, which has sparked worries about its impact on Asian security commitments and economies.
“US-China relations, how they may evolve, the fundamental perceptions and positions each side holds towards the other, as well as their respective views on a range of regional security issues will certainly be a major focus this year,” Zhu said. Beijing and Washington have traded accusations over those issues at the forum in recent years.
