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MR. SULLIVAN: The U.S., Japan, and the Philippines are three closely aligned maritime democracies with increasingly convergent strategic objectives and interests. Just this past week, our three countries and Australia held joint naval drills in the South China Sea.
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Q Just to follow up, you mentioned bilateral deliverables for the Prime Minister tomorrow. But can you also touch on some of the more regional stuff? There are also plans for an integrated air and defense missile system with Japan, Australia. For example, if you can speak about that — how Japan can support AUKUS.
And also, any plans for trilateral joint naval patrols between U.S., Japan, and the Philippines. Anything you can share?
MR. SULLIVAN: Well, first of all, on the naval patrols, we just saw trilateral, pr- — plus Australia — a new form of quadrilateral joint naval patrols last week. So, you can expect to see more of that in the future.
With respect to AUKUS, there was an AUKUS defense ministerial yesterday with a statement that came out of it that indicated what we’ve been saying for quite some time, which is that, under Pillar 2 of AUKUS, which is the advanced technology pillar, we’re prepared to work with additional partners beyond the three of us where they can bring capabilities.
And Japan is one of the countries that could very well bring capabilities to that. So, we will explore partnership with Japan under the — under Pillar 2 of AUKUS, as well as other partners.
Q So, is — is — the approach, broadly, I mean, if we look at this, it’s kind of like what you guys have been trying to do in the Middle East against Iran, this joint — this integrated missile air defense system. So, is the President’s ultimate vision, ultimately, an air and also naval network of alliances against Iran in the Middle East and then China in the Indo-Pacific? Is that’s where he’s going?
MR. SULLIVAN: That is not how I would characterize it. The President has said that his alliances are not designed against, they’re designed for. They’re designed for a free and open Indo-Pacific, for peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific.
And, frankly, the American alliance system has helped bring peace and stability to the Indo-Pacific for decades. And now, we need to update and upgrade that alliance network for the modern age. And that includes also reaching out to partners who are not traditional treaty allies of the United States, who have a key role to play in ensuring that the Indo-Pacific remains free, open, prosperous, and secure.
So, that’s how we’re looking at things across the region.
And, by the way, it goes way beyond security. It’s economics, it’s technology, it’s infrastructure development, and it’s diplomacy. And that’s all going to be on display in the meeting with the Prime Minister, and it’s all going to be on display in the trilateral meeting among President Marcos, Prime Minister Kishida, and President Biden.
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Q Xi Jinping met earlier today with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov. I wondered what you made of that meeting. And just — is the U.S. seeing any evidence that China may offer some type of direct military aid to Russia in the war with Ukraine?
MR. SULLIVAN: We have not seen any evidence that they’ll provide direct military aid to Russia, but we have expressed our concerns about inputs to Russia’s defense industrial base — something Secretary Blinken spoke about, I think, quite effectively in Europe last week.
I can’t comment on the meeting or characterize it yet because I actually haven’t had a chance to get a readout.
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Source: The White House
Speaker: Jake Sullivan, National Security Advisor
Format: Press Briefing
China Policy Research 