Todd Bishop
The US-Australia and Foreign Ministers 2+2 meeting was held on August 4th in Sydney, Australia. US Secretary of State Pompeo said that both the United States and Australia are concerned about China’s militarization measures in the artificial islands of the South China Sea. US Defense Secretary Esper said that China is causing instability in the Indo-Pacific region.
During the meeting, the US and Macao foreign ministers and defense chiefs exchanged views on China’s military expansion and Iran, and then attended the joint press conference.
This is the first foreign visit by US Defense Secretary Mark Esper after taking office. He said: “We firmly believe that no country can or should dominate the Indo-Pacific region, and we will work side by side with our allies and partners to meet the urgent security needs in the region.”
He said: “We firmly oppose the disturbing and aggressive behavior patterns from China, including the armed internationalization of the commons, the use of predatory economies and debt to achieve sovereignty transactions, and the promotion of support behind the state. And stealing intellectual property rights in other countries.”
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo praised Australia for bravely and independently warning about the risks posed by China’s 5G ambitions before the United States learned it. Australia is the first of the “five-eye alliances” to exclude Huawei from the 5G construction.
On this issue, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne has expressed his position. On August 2, when meeting with Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the ASEAN meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, she said that on the 5G issue, the Australian side will make independent decisions and will not discriminate against any particular country or specific enterprise.
