(NewsNation) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin travel to Asia Friday to meet with key allies over the growing Chinese military threat.
The goal of the 10-day trip is to strengthen alliances with countries like Japan, South Korea and the Philippines as well as ease their concerns about the potential return of former President Donald Trump, who previously suggested possibly reducing America’s presence in the region.
Regional tensions remain high
Blinken and Austin are scheduled to attend the first-ever trilateral meeting with Japan and South Korea. Regional security and defense agreements between the countries are on the agenda.
Tensions remain high, with North Korea recently sending trash balloons to South Korea and conducting missile tests, while the Chinese military clashed with Filipino sailors in the South China Sea.
Russia and China’s growing alliance
This week, Austin addressed the growing worries over the alliance between China and Russia just hours after the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, intercepted two Chinese and two Russian bombers 200 miles off the Alaskan coast Thursday.
It was the first time Chinese warplanes were ever intercepted by U.S. jets in that region.
Austin said the joint exercises show the deepening alliance between Russia and China, but added the U.S. will be ready if anything similar happens again.
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