US, Australia, Japan and Philippines defense chiefs vow to deepen cooperation
Today, the meetings that we have held represents a very significant message to the region and to the world about four democracies which are committed to the global rules based order. We meet at a time when the global rules based order is under intense pressure. We see that in Ukraine with the appalling invasion by Russia of that country, but we see the global rules based order under pressure in the Indo Pacific as well. And our poor countries are utterly committed to asserting freedom of navigation, to asserting the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, to asserting the global rules based order around the oceans of the world, including in the West Philippine Sea. Our jobs as secretaries is to make sure that there are no situations. Through capability building through deterrence that an MDT situation would arise. And so we are very conscious of the fact that we need to assert our rights, but in a manner that safeguards the safety of each and every member of the Philippine armed force, which is the principal actor in the area.