U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has warned that he is closely monitoring Beijing‘s “provocative” posture in threatening allies in the region.
U.S. media outlet Newsmax reported that Austin’s tough stance on the Chinese Communist Party in an interview with ABC News’ “This Week” reflected the Biden administration’s support for Japan, South Korea and Taiwan and its rejection of the Communist Party’s disputed territorial claims in those regions. The Biden Administration‘s tough stance on the Chinese Communist Party reflects the Biden administration’s support for Japan, South Korea and Taiwan and its rejection of the Communist Party’s disputed territorial claims in these areas.
“China (the Chinese Communist Party) has been busy modernizing its military and developing its (military) capabilities and trying to narrow the competitive advantage that we’ve been enjoying.” They (the CCP) have also been very provocative in the region (Asia-Pacific),” Austin said. In some cases, they have been coercive, and some of that coercion has been directed at our allies, and our allies are very important to us.”
An Indian government source told Reuters on Sunday (March 7) that U.S. Defense Secretary Austin is likely to visit India the week of March 15 as the two allies seek to deepen military ties to counter the growing power of the Chinese Communist Party in the Asia-Pacific region.
The source said the first in-person visit to India by a senior Biden administration official will focus on strengthening cooperation between the two countries. Austin plans to meet with Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh during his visit to India, the official added.
In the ABC interview, Austin also issued a warning to the public that the U.S. would act to defend itself if necessary. He referred to last week’s rocket attack on a U.S.-led coalition military base in Iraq. The rockets were reportedly made by Iran. Austin said the U.S. could respond “at a Time and place of our own choosing.”
“We encourage the Iraqis to move as fast as they can to investigate this incident, and they are doing so.” He said.
Austin said the U.S. message to those who would carry out such an attack is, you know, “We will take the necessary steps to protect ourselves.”
“If that’s what we believe needs to be done, we will strike at a time and place of our own choosing.” He said.
Austin also said Iran will “draw its own conclusions” from the U.S. response.
“But the conclusion they should draw from it is that we are going to defend our forces and our response will be thoughtful and it will be appropriate.” Austin said, “We hope they will choose to do the right thing.”
“We’re going to lead with our values, but we’re going to protect our interests.” He added.
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