Australia, the United States, Japan and the Philippines have made a show of strength against China’s growing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific, announcing a plan to increase joint military exercises and boost four-way defence co-operation.
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, Defence Minister Richard Marles, Japanese Defence Minister Minoru Kihara and Philippine Secretary for National Defence Gilberto Teodoro jnr vowed to boost defence co-operation. “Today, the meetings that we have held represent a very significant message to the region and to the world about four democracies which are committed to the global rules-based order,” Marles said.“We see that in Ukraine with the appalling invasion by Russia of that country, but we see the global rules-based order under pressure in the Indo-Pacific as well.”
The US, Australia and Japan also signed a research, development, testing and evaluation arrangement to boost co-operation on the sharing of defence technology.In a clear reference to China, Philippine Secretary for National Defence Gilberto Teodoro jnr said: “It is safe to say that four countries, four independent countries, voicing the same message means an important thing in the face of a unilateral declaration by a single theatre actor ...