Hegseth Calls for Strengthened U.S.-Vietnam Defense Cooperation During Hanoi Visit

Washington wants deeper military cooperation with Vietnam, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Sunday during a visit to Hanoi, where he is set to meet leaders of the Southeast Asian nation.

Speaking ahead of a meeting with Defence Minister Phan Van Giang, Hegseth said Washington’s military ties with Vietnam have involved the delivery of three cutters to the Vietnamese coastguard and three T-6 trainer aircraft, from an order of 12.

“The United States is committed to continuing these projects and more,” Hegseth said.

Separately, Hegseth said on Saturday that during talks with his Chinese counterpart, the two sides had agreed to reboot military-to-military links to “deconflict and deescalate.”

Hegseth met with China’s Defense Minister Dong Jun on the sidelines of a regional summit in Malaysia, a day after leaders Xi Jinping and Donald Trump held 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, adding that he had spoken with Dong again since their face-to-face meeting.

“The Admiral and I agree that peace, stability, and good relations are the best path for our two great and strong countries,” he said, touting a path of “strength, mutual respect, and positive relations.”

The Pentagon chief said Dong and he “also agreed that we should set up military-to-military channels to deconflict and deescalate any problems that arise.”

There was no immediate comment from Beijing.

According to a Chinese defense ministry readout of their meeting in Malaysia, Dong had told Hegseth the countries should “strengthen policy-level dialogue to enhance trust and dispel uncertainty,” and build a bilateral military relationship “characterized by equality, respect, peaceful coexistence and stable positive momentum.”