The U.S. sought to bolster its support in Asia this weekend by reassuring nations they don’t need to join a coalition against China, drawing a stark contrast with Beijing’s threats to defend its interests with military force.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told Asia’s biggest security forum Saturday that the U.S. was taking "wise counsel” from smaller countries, saying they should be "free to choose, free to prosper and free to chart their own course.”
It represented a break from the administration of former U.S. President Donald Trump pressing nations to take sides on the use of 5G equipment from Huawei, one of China’s most strategically important companies, a position that rankled many at the last gathering of defense officials in 2019. And it was a marked difference from China, whose defense minister, Wei Fenghe, vowed this time around to "fight to the very end” against any powers that wanted confrontation.