U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says the country opposes unilateral changes to the status quo in the Taiwan Strait, and that “no region is more consequential” than the Indo-Pacific. Austin made the comments in a written interview with Nikkei Asia published on Wednesday.
The interview was published ahead of Austin’s arrival in Tokyo as part of a larger trip to meet with defense officials from the United States’ allies in the region. Austin met with Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada on Thursday, and headed to Singapore on Friday for the Shangri-La Dialogues.
Austin says conflict in the Taiwan Strait is not inevitable, and that the U.S. will continue working with allies to maintain peace and stability in the region. Austin also reiterated the U.S. position that it does not support Taiwanese independence.
Nikkei further reported that the U.S. will meet with several defense partners on the sidelines of the talks, in an effort to strengthen a multilateral security framework. This includes two quadrilateral meetings which include the U.S., Japan, and Australia; one with the Philippines and one with South Korea. Austin says a U.S. offer to have a side meeting with Chinese defense minister Li Shangfu (李尚福) was refused. Austin calls the refusal “unfortunate,” and says “defense departments should be talking to each other on a routine basis or should have open channels for communication.”