Jennifer Pak

Secretary Hegseth told a room full of military, defense officials and diplomats that there is rightful alarm at what he called China's historic military buildup.

He was less clear on how to prevent an escalation and did not clarify the status of U.S.

arms sales to Taiwan and the Iran war, key issues affecting Asian allies.

Hegseth also touted better U.S.-China relations, coming off what he called a historic summit between President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing.

Jennifer Pak, NPR News, Singapore.

Thanks for having me.

Well, his message, and he said it to a room full of military defense officials and diplomats, is for Asian allies to ramp up their defense spending to counter China.

Secretary Hegseth says there is rightful alarm at China's military buildup.

He was less clear, though, on how to prevent an escalation.

He only said Asian allies should not be, quote, freeloading off American taxpayers.

Overall, this is a more toned down message from last year when he called out China for its aggressive policies, continual harassment of Taiwan, which Beijing protested against.

So far, the Chinese delegation has applauded Secretary Hegseth for repeating China's line that the two countries need to maintain a constructive strategic stability.

Not a whole lot.

Let's remember that there was a lot of confusion recently when President Trump commented that arms sales to Taiwan is a, quote, very good negotiating chip with China.

Days later, a senior U.S.

official said arms sales to Taiwan have been paused due to the war in Iran.

Now, today, Hegseth said any decision about the future of Taiwan arms sales rests solely with President Trump.

But he also said the U.S.

has good weapons stockpiles, and he played down concerns that weapons sales to Taiwan

is contingent on how things are going in the Middle East conflict.