Singapore (AFP) -US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin hailed on Saturday a “new era of security” in the Asia-Pacific region, as Washington strengthens its network of alliances aimed at countering China’s growing military might and influence.
From Japan to Australia, the United States has been deepening defence ties across the region, ramping up joint military exercises and regularly deploying warships and fighter jets in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea — infuriating Beijing.
Speaking on the sidelines of the forum after Austin’s speech, Chinese Lieutenant General Jing Jianfeng accused the United States of seeking to build an Asia-Pacific version of NATO to maintain its hegemony in the region.
In the past three years, Austin said there had been a “new convergence around nearly all aspects of security” in the Asia-Pacific, where there was a shared understanding of “the power of partnership”.
“This new convergence is producing a stronger, more resilient and more capable network of partnerships and that is defining a new era of security in the Indo-Pacific,” Austin told the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.
However, it was not “about imposing one country’s will” or “bullying or coercion”, Austin said, in an apparent shot at China.
“This new convergence is about coming together and not splitting apart,” Austin said. “It’s about the free choices of sovereign states.”
The Shangri-La Dialogue, a major security forum attended by defence officials from around the world, has become a barometer of US-China relations in recent years.
Austin met with his Chinese counterpart Dong Jun on Friday for the first substantive face-to-face talks between the two countries’ defence chiefs in 18 months.
Friday’s meeting offered hopes of further military dialogue that could help prevent flashpoint issues from spinning out of control.
Austin said the United States and China would resume military-to-military communications “in the coming months”, while Beijing hailed the “stabilising” security relations between the countries.
“I told Minister Dong that if he calls me on an urgent matter, I will answer the phone,” Austin said Saturday.
“And I certainly hope that he’ll do the same.”
Underscoring the US commitment to the region, Austin said Saturday that the Asia-Pacific remained Washington’s “priority theatre of operations”, noting “the United States can be secure only if Asia is”.
“We are all in and we’re not going anywhere,” Austin said.
The Philippines, a treaty ally of the United States, is a key focus of Washington’s efforts to build an arc of alliances across the region.
The Philippines has increased to nine the number of military bases open to US troops under a 2014 agreement.
Austin insisted Saturday that Washington’s commitment to defend Manila under their mutual defence treaty remained “ironclad”, as repeated confrontations between Chinese and Philippine vessels in the South China Sea have stoked fears of a wider conflict.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos said Friday that the “stabilising presence of the United States is crucial to regional peace”.
