China blasted U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth‘s speech at a defense forum in Singapore over the weekend, accusing him of trying “to sow discord” after he warned of a potentially “imminent” threat to Taiwan.

China criticized the United States on Sunday for having a "Cold War mentality" after Pete Hegseth appeared to warn that the U.S. is prepared to go to war to prevent China from dominating the Indo-Pacific.

When pressed on the thorny matter, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth offered a quick zinger. He was here at Asia’s preeminent security forum to talk “tanks, not tariffs.” Concerns over the White House’s protectionism and its impacts on a region knitted together by trade were,