• Hegseth meets Dong on Malaysia summit sidelines.
• Trump touts improved ties, tariff deal outline.
• Beijing urges policy-level dialogue to build trust.

US Defence Secretary Pete 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 Defence 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 de-escalate any problems that arise.”

Such channels have existed for years but at times fallen out of use.

“We have more meetings on that coming soon,” Hegseth said without elaborating.

There was no immediate comment from Beijing.

According to a Chinese defence 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 “characterised by equality, respect, peaceful coexistence and stable positive momentum.”

Last week, Trump said he had agreed to reduce tariffs on China to 47% in exchange for Beijing resuming US soybean purchases, keeping rare earths exports flowing and cracking down on the illicit trade of fentanyl.

His remarks came after face-to-face talks with Xi in the South Korean city of Busan, their first since 2019, marked the finale of Trump’s whirlwind Asia trip on which he also touted trade breakthroughs with South Korea, Japan and Southeast Asian nations.

Chinese President Xi Jinping gifted South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung a pair of Xiaomi smartphones and jokingly urged him to “check if there’s a backdoor,” during a state visit on Saturday that capped the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.

Lee hosted Xi at a state summit and dinner after the APEC leaders’ meeting in the South Korean city of Gyeongju, marking Xi’s first visit to the US ally in 11 years.

The choice of the gift — China-made Xiaomi devices brought to the home country of smartphone giant Samsung Electronics — underscored Xi’s technological ambitions, recently reinforced in China’s economic development plan for the next five years.

After Lee presented Xi with “the finest” wooden board for the ancient strategy game Go, the pair walked over to the smartphones wrapped in black boxes, and an official noted the displays on the devices were made in South Korea.

Lee lifted one of the boxes and looked at it. He then asked Xi: “How is the communication security?”, upon which Xi and other gathered officials erupted in laughter. Xi then pointed at the phones and responded: “You can check if there’s a backdoor.”

A backdoor risk refers to a hidden method of bypassing normal authentication or security controls.

Both leaders laughed and Lee clapped his hands as they proceeded with the presentation of gifts, which also included a traditional Korean mother-of-pearl inlay lacquered tray.

Xi’s comment harkened back to concerns expressed by China over a US proposal for advanced chips sold abroad to be equipped with tracking and positioning functions that prompted US chipmaker Nvidia to say its chips had no “backdoors”.

China’s foreign ministry and Xiaomi did not immediately respond to Reuters‘ requests for comment on the exchange. Lee’s office said it had no separate comment on Xi’s gifts.

At the summit, Lee sought Xi’s help in efforts to resume talks with nuclear-armed neighbour North Korea, while Xi told Lee he was willing to widen cooperation and jointly tackle the challenges they face.

In other recent off-the-cuff remarks by Xi, a hot mic caught the Chinese leader and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussing organ transplants and the possibility that humans could live to 150 years at a military parade in Beijing in September.

• Governor Durazo orders probe; children among the dead.
• President Sheinbaum sends aid teams, offers condolences.
• Cause of the fire, now doused, still unclear.

MEXICO CITY:  A festive holiday weekend turned tragic for families in northwestern Mexico on Saturday when a deadly blaze engulfed a discount store in the city centre of Hermosillo, killing at least 23 people and injuring a dozen.

Mexico is celebrating the Day of the Dead this weekend with colourful festivities in which families honour and remember deceased loved ones.

“I have ordered a thorough and transparent investigation to clarify the causes of the accident,” Alfonso Durazo, governor of the state of Sonora, home to the city, said in a video on social media, adding that children were among the victims.

Most of the deaths appeared to have been from inhalation of toxic gases, said Gustavo Salas, the state’s attorney general, citing its forensic medical service.

“My heartfelt condolences to the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives,” President Claudia Sheinbaum said in a post on X, adding that she had directed support teams to be sent to help victims’ families and the injured.

Sonora’s Red Cross said its 40 staff and 10 ambulances joined in the effort, making six trips to the hospital.

The cause of the fire, now doused, was still unclear, though some media blamed an electrical failure. City officials said the store, part of the popular discount chain Waldo’s, was not the target of an attack.

The chief of the city’s firefighters said it was still being investigated whether there was an explosion.