Japan Prepares for Indo-Pacific Defense Chiefs Meeting during Asia Security Summit

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:11 JST, May 26, 2025

The governments of Japan, the United States, Australia and the Philippines are preparing to hold a defense ministerial meeting in Singapore when they gather there for the Asia Security Summit, also known as the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue, from Friday to Sunday, according to diplomatic sources.

It will be the third round of the annual meeting of the four countries’ defense ministers and the first held during the second administration of U.S. President Donald Trump. The last meeting was held in Hawaii in May 2024.

The aim is to strengthen multilateral cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region to counter China.

The defense ministers are expected to share concerns over China’s hegemonic activities and confirm their intent to expand joint exercises to realize a “free and open Indo-Pacific” region. Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force and the other three countries’ navies conducted a joint exercise in February.

Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani and U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth are expected to attend the meeting. In March, they agreed that Japan and the United States will play the central role in strengthening cooperation with Australia, the Philippines and other countries.

The Philippines is in a dispute with China over territorial rights to the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, while Japan is facing China’s aggressive maritime expansion in the East China Sea. The two countries, which share the need to strengthen deterrence against China, agreed at a summit meeting in April that they need to deepen security cooperation against China. Australia is also increasingly concerned about China’s approach to Pacific islands.