We use cookies on this website. By continuing to use this site without changing your cookie settings, you agree that you are happy to accept our privacy policy and for us to access our cookies on your device.
Transcript/Script US-INDO-PACIFIC
HEADLINE: Blinken, Austin Visit Australia Amid Tensions With China
TEASER:
PUBLISHED AT: 07/27/2023 at 8:35 p.m.
BYLINE: Cindy Saine
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: State Department
VIDEOGRAPHER:
PRODUCER:
SCRIPT EDITORS: MAS, Jepsen
VIDEO SOURCE (S): Saine Zoom interviews, AFP, AP, Reuters
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _x_ RADIO __
TRT: 2:51
VID APPROVED BY: Jepsen
TYPE: TVR
EDITOR NOTES:))
((INTRO: ))
[[Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin are visiting Pacific Island nations this week and will meet with their Australian counterparts in Brisbane on Saturday to discuss economic and security issues. The U.S. focus on the greater Indo-Pacific region comes as China's influence in the region grows. Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports.]]
((NARRATOR))
Secretary of State Antony Blinken held talks with New Zealand’s prime minister and foreign minister in Wellington and invited them to engage with AUCKUS, the security pact between the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.
((Antony Blinken, Secretary of State))
"On AUKUS, as we continue to develop it, as we continue to work particularly now on the second pillar, the door's very much open for New Zealand and other partners to engage as they see appropriate going forward. New Zealand is a deeply trusted partner."
((NARRATOR))
Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin have both visited Pacific Island nations this week, with Austin becoming the first U.S. defense secretary to visit Papua New Guinea and Blinken the first U.S. secretary of state to visit Tonga, where he dedicated the opening of new U.S. embassy in the tiny kingdom.
One expert told VOA the U.S. is making a big push to cultivate ties there.
[[Radio Intro: Brian Harding is the senior expert for Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands at the United States Institute of Peace. He spoke to VOA via Zoom.]]
((Brian Harding, US Institute of Peace)) ((Zoom))
“Washington is taking the Pacific Islands more seriously now than it has certainly since 1945 at the end of the Pacific war. Part of taking the region seriously and engaging more deeply is having U.S. embassies.”
((NARRATOR))
Deepening security ties will be another major issue when Blinken and Austin join their counterparts in Australia, another expert told VOA.
[[Radio Intro: Shihoko Goto is acting director for the Asia program and the director of geoeconomics with the Wilson Center. She spoke to VOA via Zoom.]]
((Shihoko Goto, Wilson Center)) ((Zoom))
"In Australia, there is this bigger, this issue about having greater defense capabilities, new defense capabilities in the region and having closer coordination with Australia as the base working together with the U.K. to stave off some of the threats that are coming from China."
((NARRATOR))
While in Tonga, Blinken warned that China’s increasing investments can be “predatory” and military activities in the region can be “problematic.”
((Antony Blinken, Secretary of State))
"There has been some, from our perspective, increasingly problematic behavior, including at the same time the assertion of unlawful maritime claims, something that I've raised extensively when I was in in China.”
((NARRATOR))
China rejects the criticism, saying its cooperation has been welcomed and recognized by governments and peoples of Pacific Island countries.
French President Emmanuel Macron is also engaging in some Pacific Island diplomacy this week, visiting Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea. Without naming any specific countries, he denounced "new imperialism" in the Pacific, warning of a threat to the sovereignty of smaller states.
Cindy Saine, VOA News, the State Department
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)
the State Department
Embargo DateJuly 27, 2023 21:31 EDT
Byline
Cindy Saine, VOA News
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
