Escalating tensions between Washington and Beijing over potential missile deployments and a trade war greeted newly minted US Defense Department Secretary Mark Esper on his visit to the Indo-Pacific region.
Esper marked his first international trip as the 27th US Secretary of Defense by visiting a region where the United States is working to shore up its relationships with partner nations and allies, in part to counter China’s burgeoning military might.
“I wanted to make sure that I went to what is our priority theater based on the National Defense Strategy [NDS], which says that we are now in an era of great power competition. And our strategic competitors are China and Russia, principally in that order,” Esper told reporters on 2 August.
US Defense Secretary Mark Esper stands with Japanese Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya in Tokyo on 7 August. (US Department of Defense)
“So, for those reasons, I want to go out to the theater, visit with some of our longest- standing allies and new partners, and affirm our commitment to the region to reassure our allies and our partners to make sure they understand that it's not just the department's commitment, but my personal commitment and the United States' commitment to this region,” he added.
Esper’s itinerary included stops in Australia, Japan, Mongolia, New Zealand, and South Korea, where he met with foreign heads of state and military leaders.
In Japan, for example, Esper sat down with Prime Minister Shinzō Abe, Japanese Defence Minister Takeshi Iwaya, and other officials to discuss ways to strengthen US-Japan alliance “capabilities” and denuclearising North Korea, according to Pentagon spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Dave Eastburn.
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