US defence chief Jim Mattis is visiting China’s neighbours with a key message about ‘sovereignty’ and ‘respect’
Washington hopes to draw a contrast between its own approach and that of China, seen as aggressively modernising its military capacities in the South China Sea
US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis is starting a one-week trip to Asia, hoping to strengthen defence cooperation with Indonesia and Vietnam as regional Chinese military power looms ever larger.
“We share the Pacific – it’s an ocean named for peace – we would like to see it remain peaceful, so all the nations that use it and live here are prosperous,” Mattis told reporters accompanying him on a military plane headed to the region.
In Jakarta, where he is to arrive Monday evening, Mattis is to meet on Tuesday with President Joko Widodo and Defence Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu for talks on maritime cooperation.
The vast Indonesian archipelago reaches from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific.
In Vietnam, Mattis and his counterparts are set to discuss freedom of movement in the South China Sea, a region over which Beijing has extended its dominance in recent years, militarising several small, disputed islands.