WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Antony Blinken plans to fend off “aggression and coercion” in the Indo-Pacific region during a trip to Australia and Fiji next week, a sign the administration is keeping China in the lead of its agenda even if it is concentrated on the Russian-Ukrainian crisis.
WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Antony Blinken plans to fend off “aggression and coercion” in the Indo-Pacific region during a trip to Australia and Fiji next week, a sign the administration is keeping China in the lead of its agenda even if it is concentrated on the Russian-Ukrainian crisis.
This week’s meeting in Melbourne involving the Quad group of nations – the United States, Australia, Japan and India – will seek to solidify and institutionalize the informal grouping, Deputy Secretary of State Daniel said on Friday. Kristenbrink to reporters in Washington.
Although officials did not mention China, Beijing criticized the United States for building “small cliques” and “inciting bloc confrontation” when Blinken visited the region in the past.
Blinken’s Indo-Pacific trip will also take him to Suva, Fiji, where leaders from 18 countries have been invited for talks that will cover issues ranging from climate change to maritime security and illegal fishing, said Kristenbrink. The visit to Fiji will be the first by a US secretary of state since the 1980s, he added.
Finally, Blinken will stop in Hawaii for meetings with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts. Talks there will likely center on the recent wave of missile launches from North Korea.
Casa Amparo Triana
