When Defense Secretary Minoru Kihara travels to Hawaii on Thursday for three days of talks with his American, Australian and Philippine counterparts, he will have only one thing on his mind: how to deepen military and security cooperation to counter China.
“Through this visit, I hope to send a strong message of unity among allies and like-minded countries towards the realization of rules-based policies. international order and a free and open Indo-Pacific,” Kihara told a news conference on Friday.
The meeting comes as Washington continues to bring regional allies and partners closer together in small groups to build what it calls “collective capacity.”
