US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to meet with Indo-Pacific allies
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will begin meeting with Indo-Pacific allies today.
Blinken will travel to Australia, Fiji, and Hawaii to attend six days of meetings aimed at advancing peace and an open Indo-Pacific. Officials representing Japan, South Korea, India, Australia, and Fiji are expected to attend.
This tour comes as North Korea successfully completed a test of a long range nuclear weapon on January 31 capable of striking Guam, which experts are calling the most significant test of its missile capabilities in five years. It also comes as the Kremlin officially announced that Taiwan is a part of China, further legitimizing Chinese claims and strengthening Russian ties to the CCP.
The Indo-Pacific region is facing a sharp backslide in security. This tour, led by Secretary Blinken, will strengthen US commitments to allies in the region and likely result in further humanitarian support to ease the burden of COVID-19. The meeting in Hawaii with Japan and South Korea will likely lead to more tri-lateral military operations near the Korean peninsula to counter aggression from North Korea. In the long term, this effort fits within a campaign the US is waging to protect its allies in the Indo-Pacific from continued threats.
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