By Joseph Clark
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III is embarking on his 11th trip to the Indo-Pacific Friday amid what officials said is a landmark period for U.S. ties throughout the region.
The 10-day series of engagements will include stops in Japan and the Philippines as the Defense Department continues to strengthen partnerships to support a shared vision for peace, stability and deterrence throughout the region. It will also include high-level talks with Australian officials in Annapolis, Maryland, where the secretary will meet with his counterpart.
While in Japan, Austin and Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken will meet with Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara and Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa as part of this year's U.S.- Japan Security Consultative Committee meeting in Tokyo.
Austin and Kihara will also meet separately with South Korean defense minister for the first trilateral Ministerial Meeting, a key component of the U.S., South Korea and Japan security cooperation dialogue.
From Tokyo, Austin and Blinken will travel to Manila, the Philippines, where they will meet with Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro and Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo as part of the fourth U.S.-Philippines 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue.
After returning to the U.S., Austin and Blinken will host Australia's Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Richard Marles and Foreign Minister Penny Wong for this year's Australia-U.S. Ministerial Consultations.
The series of engagements mark a continuation of President Joe Biden's strategy of sustained engagement in the United States' priority theater of operations.
"I know that it's easy to focus on the crisis of the day, but just look at what our strategy has achieved in the Indo-Pacific over the past 3 1/2 years," Austin said Thursday during a joint press conference with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force Gen. CQ Brown, Jr., at the Pentagon.
The secretary noted that the U.S. has nearly doubled its military construction investments in the Indo-Pacific over the last fiscal year and has continued to make significant improvements to its force posture in the region.
The U.S. has also led the way in uniting a broad network of partners focused on solving key regional challenges.
"Our ties with Australia are stronger than ever," Austin said. "We've improved our relationships with Vietnam, Singapore, Papua New Guinea and many more."
In previewing Austin's visit to the region, defense officials said the series of high-level talks will mark a crucial waypoint for U.S. engagement in the region.
"We're about to kick off the 10 most consequential days for U.S. defense ties in the Indo-Pacific since the start of the administration as the secretary participates in a rapid succession of premier defense and diplomacy dialogues with three regional allies," a senior defense official said this week.
Austin's engagements with his Japanese and South Korean counterparts in Tokyo will build upon last summer's Camp David summit with President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, which paved the way for what White House officials called "a new era of trilateral partnership" among the three countries.
The exchange between the three defense ministers will mark the first iteration of the Trilateral Minister's meeting to be held in Japan and the first time in 15 years since a South Korean Defense Minister has visited Tokyo.
"I think this reflects the really important leadership and political courage in Tokyo and South Korea to reconcile some of the historical challenges that they've faced in that relationship," the official said. "There has been a real commitment, including from President Biden, to bring these partners together."
He added that senior leaders in the department have worked throughout their entire careers on forging ties between Japan and South Korea.
"I think that what we have seen since the Camp David talks, when President Biden brought the leaders together, is just a new era in trilateral cooperation where these partners are willing to do things that are unprecedented and to deepen cooperation in a way that really is new," the official said.
At Camp David, the three heads of state agreed to a series of initiatives to strengthen security cooperation through enhanced interoperability, information sharing and coordination. The summit also paved the way for improved cooperation on ballistic missile defense and a multiyear framework for annual, trilateral exercises.
Since the summit, the three countries have made concrete progress in the exchange of real-time, missile-warning data to detect and assess ballistic missiles launched by North Korea.
This summer, the U.S., Japan and South Korea also completed the first iteration of Freedom Edge, a trilateral, multidomain exercise focused on cooperative ballistic missile defense, air defense, antisubmarine warfare, search and rescue, and maritime interdiction.
While in Tokyo, the three defense ministers are expected to build on the momentum gained since the summit and further institutionalize the trilateral cooperation, a senior defense official said.
Austin and Blinken will also highlight new bilateral pathways with Japan U.S.- Japan Security Consultative Committee meeting where the leaders will highlight the two countries' growing cooperation on defense equipment and technology.
"This industrial cooperation will bolster alliance deterrence by identifying procurement and readiness requirements and expanding production capacity, notably for advanced missiles like Patriot PAC-3 interceptors," the official said.
In Manila, Austin and Blinken will also build upon recent strides in the long-standing U.S.-Filipino defense relationship.
The two countries have recently designated four new U.S. rotational access sites in the Philippines as part of the 2023 expansion of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, which was first signed in 2014.
The nine sites are designed to strengthen combined training, exercises and interoperability between the two countries.
During their visit, Austin and Blinken will announce that the U.S. is providing $500 million in foreign military financing through the recent national security supplemental passed by Congress in the spring.
"This unprecedented provision of security assistance, which is an order of magnitude greater that what we've recently provided to the Philippines on an annual basis will be a critical enabler of the Philippine defense moderation already underway," the official said.
