Australia, US, Japan Continue Building Defence Architecture in Indo-Pacific

The three countries plus the Philippines have committed to ensuring right of passage in the South China Sea despite claims from Beijing.

A China Coast Guard ship (top) sails dangerously close to Filipino fishermen aboard two wooden boats (center), as a Philippine Fisheries and Aquatic Resources inflatable boat observes, near the Scarborough Shoal, in the South China Sea, on Feb. 16, 2024. Ted Aljibe/ AFP/Getty Images

The United States, Australia, and Japan have pledged to promote stability in the Indo-Pacific amid Beijing’s ongoing belligerence in the South and East China Seas.

In a May 2 meeting in Hawaii, Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles met with Japanese Defence Minister Kihara Minoru, and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III, while underscoring the need to collaborate to uphold the rules of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).