HAWAII: Amid heightened Chinese aggression, Australia and the US reaffirmed their “unwavering commitment” to a free and open Indo-Pacific, saying all countries in the region are “free to choose their own destinies”.
In a joint press conference with Australian Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles Saturday (local time), US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said, “We are deeply concerned by China’s aggressive, escalatory, and destabilising military activities in the Taiwan Strait and elsewhere in the Indo-Pacific.”
Austin held a Trilateral Defence Ministers Meeting (TDMM) with Marles and Japanese Minister of Defence Hamada Yasukazu in Hawaii on Saturday and called out China’s aggressive behaviour in the Indo-Pacific region.
“We (the US, Japan & Australia) remain focused on maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific,” said Austin.
Stressing the importance of the alliance system in the Indo-Pacific region, the US Defence Secretary said, “US and Australia have long-standing ties, trust and friendship. We are both deeply dedicated to freedom and democracy. We also share an unwavering commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific. In this region, all countries are free to choose their own destinies, where states respect international law and disputes are resolved peacefully without coercion or intimidation. They are the foundation of our unbreakable alliance.”
Further, the international, rules-based order is based on the idea that nations should respect international laws and resolve disputes peacefully.
Austin and Marles discussed the steps needed to enhance deterrence and strengthen security in the Indo-Pacific.
“We talked about enhancing our interoperability and expanding our operations and advancing our on-going posture, force posture initiatives,” said Austin.
Marles said the two leaders talked about ways to deepen defence industrial base cooperation.
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