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The defense ministers of the United States, Australia and Japan agreed on Saturday to strengthen military cooperation in the face of China’s growing ambitions.
“We are deeply concerned about China’s increasingly aggressive and aggressive acts of bullying in the Taiwan Strait and elsewhere in the region,” US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said in welcoming Australian and Japanese counterparts to US military headquarters in the Pacific.
“Our interest is in maintaining a rules-based global order. But we see that order also under pressure in the Indo-Pacific as China seeks to shape the world around it in a way that we have never seen before” Australia Minister Richard Malles said.
The United States is pressing for a diplomatic offensive to counter Chinese influence in the region.
On Thursday, Washington announced an $810 million aid package to Pacific island nations where the United States plans to strengthen its diplomatic presence.
Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to Japan and South Korea last week and said the United States would act without fear or hesitation across Asia, including the Taiwan Strait.
Beijing considers Taiwan to be part of China and claims the thin and busy waterway that separates the two.
Harris also traveled to Seoul to visit the Demilitarized Zone between the two countries. Her visit was intended to demonstrate Washington’s commitment to defending South Korea from North Korea.
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