Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will visit Japan and the Philippines later this week as tensions reach a high point in the Indo-Pacific region amid clashes between Philippine sailors and Chinese crews.
Austin will make his 11th visit to the Indo-Pacific region since becoming Defense Secretary when he leaves Friday for Japan, where he and Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet with their Japanese counterparts.
In Tokyo, Austin will also meet with Japanese Defense Minister Kihara Minoru and South Korean National Defense Minister Shin Won-sik in the first meeting between the three since the founding of a historic trilateral alliance last year. .
This meeting will take place at a time of increased tensions between North and South Korea, which recently abandoned a 2018 pact to demilitarize the border between them. Pyongyang has begun sending garbage balloons across the border and Seoul has broadcast messages to North Koreans over loudspeakers, while North Korea’s missile tests and spy satellite launches increasingly concern South Korea.
After Tokyo, Austin and Blinken will travel to the Philippines and meet with their counterparts in Manila and then return to Annapolis, Maryland, to meet with Australian officials on August 6.
The upcoming meetings underscore the U.S. focus on the Indo-Pacific, as Washington increasingly seeks to counter China in the region and secure the territorial sovereignty of Taiwan, an island nation that Beijing considers part of the mainland.
The voyage also comes after Chinese ships rammed and sprayed Filipino sailors with water cannons during repeated clashes at the disputed Second Thomas Shoal reef, where the Philippines attempted to replenish its presence on a stranded vessel.
The fighting came to a head last month when Chinese sailors attacked a Filipino crew with machetes and seized weapons and equipment. At least one Filipino sailor lost his thumb in the confrontation.
China and the Philippines announced an agreement on Sunday that could prevent further escalation in the region, according to the Associated Press. It is unclear what the exact terms of the agreement are as the text has not been released.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
