Southeast Asian defense chiefs and representatives met in Laos on Wednesday for security talks at a time of increasing maritime disputes with China in the Asia-Pacific and as the transition to a new U.S. president looms.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was set to join the meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations defense ministers in Vientiane, where many will be looking for assurances before President-elect Donald Trump's return to power in January.
Austin just wrapped up meetings in Australia with officials there and Japan's defense minister, where they pledged their support for ASEAN and their 'serious concern about destabilizing actions in the East and South China Seas, including dangerous conduct by the People's Republic of China against Philippines and other coastal state vessels."
In addition to the United States, other nations attending the two-day ASEAN meetings include Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and China.
Along with the Philippines, ASEAN member states Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei have competing claims with China in the South China Sea, which Beijing claims almost entirely as its own territory .
