Defence chiefs from Australia, the US, Japan and the Philippines have vowed to deepen co-operation as they gather in Hawaii for their second-ever joint meeting amid concerns about China's operations in the South China Sea.
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The meeting came after the four countries held their first joint naval exercises in April in the South China Sea - a major shipping route where Beijing has long-simmering territorial disputes with several Southeast Asian nations and has caused alarm with its recent assertiveness in the waters.
Speaking after their discussion, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters the drills strengthened the ability of the nations to work together, build bonds among their forces and underscore their shared commitment to international law in the waterway.
Australia's Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles said the defence chiefs talked about increasing the tempo of joint exercises.
"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," he said at a joint news conference with his counterparts.
Austin hosted the defence chiefs at the US military's regional headquarters, US Indo-Pacific Command, at Camp HM Smith in the hills above Pearl Harbor.
Earlier in the day, Austin had separate bilateral meetings with Australia and Japan followed by a trilateral meeting with Australia and Japan.
Defence chiefs from the four nations held their first meeting in Singapore in 2023.
The US has decades-old defence treaties with all three nations.
The US lays no claims to the South China Sea but has deployed navy ships and fighter jets in what it calls freedom of navigation operations that have challenged China's claims to virtually the entire waterway.
The US says freedom of navigation and overflight in the waters is in America's national interest.
Aside from China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei also have overlapping claims in the resource-rich sea.
Beijing has refused to recognise a 2016 international arbitration ruling that invalidated its expansive claims on historical grounds.
Skirmishes between Beijing and Manila in particular have flared since 2023.
Earlier this week, Chinese coast guard ships fired water cannons at two Philippine patrol vessels off off Scarborough Shoal, damaging both.
The repeated high-seas confrontations have sparked fears of a larger conflict that could put China and the US on a collision course.
The US has warned repeatedly that it's obligated to defend the Philippines - its oldest treaty ally in Asia - if Filipino forces, ships or aircraft come under an armed attack, including in the South China Sea.
President Joe Biden's administration has said it aims to build what it calls a "latticework" of alliances in the Indo-Pacific even as the US grapples with the Israel-Hamas war and Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
Beijing says the strengthening of US alliances in Asia is aimed at containing China and threatens regional stability.
Australian Associated Press
