A senior Pentagon official on Tuesday said US-China military communication was “stronger than it has been in years”, marking a rare bright spot in the broader strategic rivalry between the world’s two most powerful countries. “Under the leadership of Secretary [Pete] Hegseth, we are actively repairing a once broken military-to-military channel and making clear, steady progress,” said Alvaro Smith, deputy assistant defence secretary for China, Taiwan and Mongolia. He made the remarks during a...