Pentagon chief set to bolster alliances in Asia to counter China
HONOLULU US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Saturday that he was travelling to Asia to boost military cooperation with American allies and foster "credible deterrence" against China.
Mr Austin kicked off the visits via Hawaii, seat of the American military command for the Indo-Pacific region. These are his first foreign visits as Pentagon chief.
"This is all about alliances and partnerships," he told reporters on the trip that is to include meetings with key allies in Tokyo, New Delhi and Seoul.
"It is also about enhancing capabilities," he added, recalling that while the US was focused on the struggle in the Middle East, China was modernising its army at high speed.
"That competitive edge that we've had has eroded," he said. "We still maintain that edge. We are going to increase that edge going forward. Our goal is to make sure that we have the capabilities and the operational plans... to be able to offer a credible deterrence to China or anybody else who would want to take on the US."
Mr Lloyd will be joined in Tokyo and Seoul by Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
"One of the things that the Secretary of State and I want to do is begin to strengthen those alliances," he said. "This will be more about listening and learning, getting their point of view."
This tour in Asia of the heads of diplomacy and defence of the US follows an unprecedented summit of the Quad (US, India, Japan and Australia), an informal alliance born in the 2000s to counterbalance a rising China.
Mr Blinken will also join national security adviser, Mr Jake Sullivan, in Anchorage, Alaska, on Thursday with their Chinese counterparts, Mr Wang Yi and Mr Yang Jiechi.
The Alaska talks will be the first between the powers since Mr Yang met Mr Blinken's hawkish predecessor, Mr Mike Pompeo, in June in Hawaii - a setting similarly far from the high-stakes glare of national capitals. - AFP
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