United States: In response to China's growing ambitions, the defense ministers of the United States, Australia and Japan on Saturday decided to increase military cooperation.
US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August, and thereafter, ministers' talks in Hawaii "strongly condemned" China's ballistic missile launch in the Taiwan Strait.
"We will continue to strengthen trilateral cooperation to support the realization of a free and open Indo-Pacific," Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada told reporters.
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Welcoming their counterparts from Australia and Japan to the US Military Headquarters for the Pacific, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said, "We are deeply concerned by China's increasingly aggressive and bullying behavior in the Taiwan Strait and elsewhere in the region.
Our concern is to maintain the rules-based order of the world. According to Australian Minister Richard Marles, the Indo-Pacific is also under pressure from China's efforts to change the world in a way we have never seen before.
According to Hamada, the ministers reaffirmed their opposition to "any actions that would escalate tensions" in the context of China's ballistic missile test launches, some of which landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone. In response to Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, which China views as a separate province that should be reunited with the mainland, China conducted extensive military exercises if necessary. Beijing opposes formal communication between the self-governing island and the US.
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According to the ministry, the ministers promised to promote the peaceful resolution of cross-strait disputes. Vice President Kamala Harris visited Japan and South Korea last week and assured the region, including the Taiwan Straits, that the US would take bold and decisive action.
Beijing views Taiwan as a rebel province and also claims ownership of the narrow and congested waterway that separates the two.
In addition to visiting Seoul, Harris also visited the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas. The purpose of his visit was to demonstrate Washington's dedication to defending South Korea from North Korea. To counter Chinese influence in the region, the United States is intensifying its diplomatic offensive.
Washington on Thursday unveiled an $810 million aid package for Pacific island countries where it plans to enhance diplomatic ties. According to the ministry, the three countries promised to expand the trilateral exercise and promote cooperation in gathering defense equipment, technology and information to improve interoperability between their militaries.
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The Asia Security Summit, known as the Shangri-La Dialogue, saw Japan, the United States and Australia hold their first defense ministerial-level meeting since their June meeting in Singapore.