China accuses Pete Hegseth of sowing division in Asia in speech 'filled with provocations'

China's government has accused Pete Hegseth of trying to "sow division" in the Asia Pacific region over his speech at a Singapore defence conference where he warned China was a potentially "imminent" threat. On Saturday Hegseth said China was "credibly preparing to potentially use military force to alter the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific", and was rehearsing for "the real deal" of invading Taiwan. "There's no reason to sugar coat it. The threat China poses is real, and it could be imminent," the US defence secretary said in a keynote address at the Shangri-la Dialogue defence forum, calling for…