Washington DC - Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on Saturday that talks with China were underway to reboot military-to-military communication in an attempt to "deconflict and deescalate."

Hegseth met with Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun on the sidelines of a regional summit in Malaysia, a day after China's President Xi Jinping met with President Donald Trump for talks in South Korea.

"I just spoke to President Trump, and we agree – the relationship between the United States and China has never been better," Hegseth said in a post on X.

"Following President Trump's historic meeting with Chairman Xi in South Korea, I had an equally positive meeting with my counterpart, China's Minister of National Defense Admiral Dong Jun in Malaysia," Hegseth announced.

China Trump opens up on hopes for much-anticipated meeting with Xi Jinping

"The Admiral and I agree that peace, stability, and good relations are the best path for our two great and strong countries," he said.

Hegseth went on to tout "peace through strength, mutual respect, and positive relations" as fundamental to establishing a better US-China relationship and a deescalation of tensions which have skyrocketed since Trump reentered office.

"Admiral Dong and I also agreed that we should set up military-to-military channels to deconflict and deescalate any problems that arise. We have more meetings on that coming soon. God bless both China and the USA!" Hegseth said.

According to a Chinese Defense Ministry readout of their meeting, Dong told Hegseth that the two countries should "strengthen policy-level dialogue to enhance trust and dispel uncertainty."

Dong emphasized in particular the need to build a bilateral military relationship between the US and China that is "characterized by equality, respect, peaceful coexistence and stable positive momentum."