ExclusiveWill US defence strategy architect Colby pave the way for Hegseth’s China visit?
Sources say the Pentagon’s undersecretary for policy could arrive in Beijing ‘within weeks’ to finalise arrangements for defence chief’s trip
The Pentagon is planning to send a high-level delegation to Beijing within weeks to lay the groundwork for a potential visit by Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, the South China Morning Post has learned.
According to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to comment publicly, the trip would be aimed at finalising arrangements for a Hegseth visit, among other things. However, they did not offer a timeline for when that might happen.
The potential Pentagon delegation would follow US President Donald Trump’s high-profile visit to Beijing last week.
Chinese experts have previously noted that Beijing would view Trump’s decision on US arms sales to Taiwan as a key indicator of the state of bilateral relations, and of his commitment to the “constructive strategic stability” framework raised during last week’s summit with President Xi Jinping.
A Financial Times report on Thursday quoted sources as saying that Beijing would not approve Colby’s visit until Trump decided on how to proceed with a pending US14 billion arms package for Taiwan.