Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will travel to Hawaii next week to meet with defense leaders from Australia, Japan and the Philippines as part of ongoing efforts to bolster the United States’ defense and security relationship with the three countries, the Pentagon said Friday.
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Secretary Austin, a previous Wash100 Award recipient, will meet individually with Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles and Japanese Minister of Defense Kihara Minoru on May 2. Then, all three officials will participate in a Trilateral Defense Ministerial Meeting.
The last scheduled meeting includes Secretary Austin, Deputy Prime Minister Marles, Minister Kihara, and Philippines Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro. This will mark the second-ever meeting between the four defense officials.
These meetings come at a time when tensions are rising in the Indo-Pacific region, competition is intensifying between the U.S. and China and U.S. defense officials are calling for deeper relationships with allied nations.
Secretary Austin recently spoke virtually with Adm. Dong Jun, defense minister of China, for the first time in nearly 18 months. According to the Department of Defense, the two leaders discussed defense relations between the U.S. and China, among other timely topics.
During his trip, Austin will also preside over a change of command ceremony at the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, known as INDOPACOM. He will recognize outgoing commander Admiral John Aquilino and welcome incoming commander Admiral Samuel Paparo.