(Hanoi = Yonhap News) Correspondent Park Jin-hyung = The United States reaffirmed the Donald Trump administration's Asian security pledge to suppress aggressive actions in the region by targeting China at the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Expanded Defense Ministers' Meeting (ADMM-Plus) held in Cebu, Philippines on the 28th to 29th (local time).
According to the Associated Press on the 29th, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth held a meeting of the Defense Ministers of the Squad, an informal security consultative body of the United States, Japan, Australia, and the Philippines, during the ADMM-Plus meeting, and emphasized this position, saying, "Our message is very clear."
“The approach we are taking is strong, quiet and clear,” Hegseth said. “Strong enough to deter coercion and aggression, but quiet enough to avoid unnecessary escalation of tensions or external displays, allowing our actions to speak for themselves.”
In particular, the United States promised its ally the Philippines, which is competing with China over territorial sovereignty in the South China Sea, that it would build a strong deterrent against China in the region.
However, he did not mention China directly.
At a meeting with ASEAN defense ministers the day before, Minister Hegseth proposed establishing a U.S.-ASEAN defense cooperation system and called for enhanced cooperation between navies of each country in waters of the region, including the South China Sea.
In addition, the day before, he held a bilateral meeting with the defense ministers of Asian allies such as Korea, Japan, and Australia, and emphasized the expansion of defense investment.
Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Richard Marles, who attended the squad meeting, criticized, "We are witnessing the largest build-up of conventional military power in the world since World War II by China," adding, "China is not providing any explanation as to why it is doing this, and all of this is creating a pressure situation."
He said, “China appears to be trying to reorganize the world around it in its favor and exert influence in the region,” and expressed concern that China’s aggressive attitude is posing a challenge to Australia.
He added, "China's actions will not stop us from doing what we need to do. Ultimately, what we are trying to do is establish a rules-based order in the Pacific region," adding, "Freedom of navigation on the high seas is a very important issue for Australia."
In his opening remarks at the ADMM-Plus plenary session on this day, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro of the Philippines, which holds the rotating chairmanship of ASEAN this year, said that dialogue between defense officials is "not simply an option, but an essential task to build strategic trust, prevent misjudgments, and maintain peace and stability across the seas and skies we share."
He also emphasized the importance of a rules-based international order, such as international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and said, "We welcome cooperation on food and energy security as supply chain disruptions and armed conflicts overseas continue."
At the meeting, ASEAN defense ministers agreed on five items to strengthen regional cooperation, including exchange of young military officers among each country, measures to strengthen response to chemical, biological and radiological threats, and holding a maritime conference with India next year.
Meanwhile, China, which unusually dispatched only a defense attaché from the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines instead of a defense chief, claimed that the host country, the Philippines, had hindered China's participation.
“The Philippines side has allowed some politicians to act recklessly and use public office for personal purposes, and has set up several obstacles to block China’s participation in ADMM-Plus,” Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Zhang Xiaogang said at a press briefing on the day.
He continued, “This has seriously undermined ASEAN’s consensus principles and is a serious violation of the spirit of openness and inclusiveness (of the meeting).”
Accordingly, Minister Teodoro, who chaired the meeting, explained that China was given ample opportunity to express its position, and that no other ASEAN member country had raised similar concerns.
Previously, the Philippine Department of Defense announced that it had sent an invitation to China to participate in this meeting.
