SINGAPORE: The US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Saturday said the Asia-Pacific region has always been a priority for Washington, adding the United States is secure only if Asia is.
Lloyd made was addressing a major security forum in Singapore, a day after he had a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Dong Jun.
Austin told the Shangri-La Dialogue that the United States will be secure if Asia is secure and that is why the United States has long maintained its presence in the region.
He said despite the historic conflicts occurring in the Middle East and Europe the Asia-Pacific remained US priority.
United States seeking to strengthen partnerships
The United States is seeking to strengthen partnerships and alliances in the region, particularly with the Philippines, as it seeks to contain China’s growing influence and military might.
As it deepens defense relations, it has also ramped up joint military exercises while regularly deploying fighter jets and warships in the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait infuriating China.
Beijing thinks the strategy is part of a decades-long US effort to contain it.
The Shangri-La Dialogue this year comes a week after China held military exercise around self-ruled Taiwan.
Austin on Friday met with Dong for the first substantive face-to-face talks between the defense chiefs of the two countries in 18 months, offering hopes for further military dialogue that could help prevent disputes from going out of control.
Austin said China and the United States would resume military-to-military contacts in the coming months, while Beijing hailed the stabilizing security ties between the countries.
The US Defense Secretary in his speech on Saturday, appeared to take shots at China, saying there was a “new era of security in the Indo-Pacific”.
He said the new convergence is about coming closer and not splitting apart.
Austin in his remarks insisted that the US commitment to protect the Philippines under their mutual defense treaty remained “ironclad”, as repeated confrontations between Philippine and Chinese ships in the South China Sea have sparked fears of a broader conflict.
The United States can be secure only if Asia is secure.
We have long maintained our presence in the Indo-Pacific for this very reason.
It’s also why we continue to make the investments necessary to meet our commitments to our allies and partners. pic.twitter.com/2KmBuvJccD
— Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III (@SecDef) June 1, 2024
