WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met their Australian counterparts Monday in Washington for annual talks focused on Indo-Pacific security and countering in the region, including in the and .
Rubio, Hegseth, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Defense Minister Richard Marles gathered at the State Department, with many eyes also on , a fragile and U.S. in the Western Hemisphere that have raised there.
鈥淭his is a very strong partnership, it鈥檚 a strong alliance, and what we want to do is continue to build on it. We think we have a lot of momentum behind this alliance,鈥� Rubio said, hailing cooperation between Washington and Canberra on , defense production and troop deployments.
None of the four mentioned China by name in their brief comments to reporters before the formal meeting began, but the challenges posed by Beijing throughout the Pacific and elsewhere have been a central theme of the U.S.-Australia relationship for years.
In a separate one-on-one meeting after the four-way talks, the State Department said Rubio and Wong 鈥渄iscussed their shared commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific, emphasizing cooperation to combat online scam operations and supporting further strategic infrastructure projects across the Pacific.鈥�
President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the White House in October after China imposed its own critical minerals, used in technology from cellphones to fighter jets and of which Beijing is the top producer and processor. After later that month, Beijing said it would for a year.
鈥淲e have to have critical mineral supplies and supply chains that are reliable, and that are diverse, and not overly invested in one place where they can be used as leverage against us or our partners of the world,鈥� Rubio said.
One element of the broader relationship is the AUKUS pact, a Biden administration-era agreement under which the U.S., Britain and Australia committed to powered by U.S. nuclear technology. Rubio met later Monday with British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper but neither spoke to reporters.
鈥淭he alliance has always been to ensure it delivers concrete benefits for our security and prosperity and for that of the United States. And AUKUS is central to that: a win for Australia, a win for the U.S. and a win for the United Kingdom,鈥� Wong said. 鈥淲e are full steam ahead.鈥�
Hegseth echoed her comments, saying that 鈥渁s we move full steam ahead on AUKUS, we applaud Australia鈥檚 upcoming delivery of an additional $1 billion to help expand U.S. submarine production capacity. We鈥檙e strengthening AUKUS so that it works for America, for Australia and for the U.K.鈥�
Marles agreed and reaffirmed the centrality of the alliance with the United States to Australia’s security.
鈥淲e are living in a much more contested world, where it really matters to be doubling down with friends and allies and, obviously, America is front and center and foremost for Australia in that respect,鈥� he said.
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