On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Toyko to meet with some of Washington’s closest allies in Asia, Japan, Australia and India, to strengthen support among regional allies.
It is Pompeo’s first trip to East Asia since July 2019 and comes as ties between the United States and strategic rival China are at their worst in decades.
The one-day visit includes a meeting of foreign ministers of the Quad grouping of nations: the United States, Australia, India and Japan.
“The Secretary and the Foreign Minister also discussed their shared concerns regarding the People’s Republic of China’s malign activity in the region,” a State Department official said in the statement.
“Whether it is individual human rights, market-based economies, countering disinformation or building greater resilience into our supply chains, our common values and interests mean we share a vision for a free, open and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” she said on social media.
The Unites States has said it greatly values the meeting of the Quad grouping of foreign ministers as a platform to strengthen its solidarity against China with regional allies.
“We’re hoping to have some significant announcements, significant achievements,” Pompeo told reporters at Joint Base Andrews in the United States before departing for Tokyo, but didn’t describe about it.
