The US, Australia and Japan have renewed vows on tripartite security cooperation and urged peaceful resolutions of maritime disputes, an allusion to China’s territorial rows with its neighbors. This developed as Beijing continues to advocate a dual-track approach for the settlement of disputes in the South China Sea, and rejects all external interference.
Meeting in Brisbane on the sidelines of a Group of 20 leaders’ summit, US President Barack Obama, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott expressed their commitment to deepen the already strong security and defense cooperation between the three countries, according to a joint statement released by the White House.
According to the leaders, the three countries will enhance cooperation on trilateral exercises, maritime security capacity building and maritime domain awareness.
Despite making no direct mention of China, in their joint statement the trio called for “peaceful resolution of maritime disputes in accordance with international law.”