The US and Australia on Tuesday expressed strong opposition to China’s “destabilizing” actions in the Indo-Pacific region, and support for upholding peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.
In a statement after the annual Australia-US Ministerial Consultations in Washington, the two countries described Taiwan as a leading democracy in the region, an important regional economy and a key contributor to critical supply chains.
They reaffirmed their commitment to maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and opposed any unilateral changes to the “status quo,” the statement said.
Photo: AFP
They also committed to working together to support Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations and enhancing economic, social and people-to-people ties with Taiwan, while also continuing to coordinate efforts on development in the Pacific with Taiwan, it said.
The annual event is known as the 2+2 talks because they involve the defense and foreign ministers of each country.
They were attended by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, and Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong (黃英賢) and Australian Minister for Defence Richard Marles.
Aside from voicing support for Taiwan, they expressed strong opposition to China’s destabilizing actions in the South China Sea, such as the militarization of disputed features, and dangerous encounters at sea and in the air.
They also expressed concern about other actions by Beijing, including the assertion of excessive maritime claims that are inconsistent with international law, and pledged to work with others to support regional maritime security and uphold international law, the statement said.
They also said they would welcome Japanese troops into three-way rotations, vowing a united front in the face of China’s rapid military advances.
“It’s really important that we are doing this from the point of view of providing balance within our region and involving other countries within our region, and we look forward to being able to have more engagement with Japan,” Marles told a news conference.
“We can go to Japan at the end of this week with an invitation for Japan to be participating in more exercises with Australia and the United States,” Marles added.
Austin said that the allies would seek Japanese participation in joint operations in Australia, where the US has been rotating marines since 2011 through Darwin.
Austin said that the US and Australia agreed to increase rotations of bomber task forces, fighter jets, and the US Army and Navy.
“We agreed to enhance trilateral defense cooperation and to invite Japan to integrate into our force posture initiatives in Australia,” Austin said.
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