Jennifer Pak

And he said there is no change in the status of U.S.-Taiwan relations.

Also no.

He repeated what President Trump has already said, that the president is patient and will only strike a deal if it's a good one, and that's defined as one that ensures Iran doesn't get a nuclear weapon.

He also said that the U.S.

is ready to resume strikes on Iran if no deal is reached.

Of course, there were some U.S.

strikes last week already.

Yeah, I mean, China did not send the defense minister to the summit, and instead they sent a low-level delegation of military experts and scholars.

Now, in terms of direct U.S.-China engagement at this forum, I think that's less important because

Secretary Hegseth already said that the two countries have more military to military exchanges, or at least that's the plan.

And that's important because they need to avoid any misunderstanding that could spark a conflict.

But for the wider region, this is a missed opportunity for China.

Because even though Secretary Hegseth is touting that relations between the U.S.

and China are at their best in years, China and the U.S.

are still strategic competitors.

And much smaller countries in the region feel really caught between the two superpowers.

Vietnam's President Tho Lam yesterday said in his keynote speech at the event that one of the biggest risks is unchecked competition where might makes right.

And they're looking for positive signals, both from the U.S.

and China, that this is not the case.

Thank you.