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.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he came to Asia’s preeminent security forum to talk “tanks, not tariffs.” But for other leaders, Trump’s trade war was hard to set aside.

China has denounced U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for calling the Asian country a threat, accusing him of touting a Cold War mentality.