Jim Garamone at the DoD News
offers the below piece:
WASHINGTON, Oct. 23, 2017 —
Strengthening ties with allies, increasing defense capabilities in the
Indo-Asia-Pacific region and discussions about the threat of North Korea are
among the topics Defense Secretary Jim Mattis will contend with on his trip to
the region, he told reporters traveling with him yesterday.
The secretary arrived in the
Philippines this morning Washington time. He laid out his agenda for the trip
during an in-flight news conference.
Mattis will meet with
Philippine officials before taking part in the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations defense ministerial set for Oct. 23-25. That meeting is at the former
Clark Air Base.
“One of the first things I’m
going to do when I get there is commend the Philippine military for liberating
Marawi from the terrorists,” he told reporters. It was a very tough fight, as
you know, in southern Mindanao. And I think the Philippine military sends a
very strong message to the terrorists.”
The Armed Forces of the
Philippines battled forces allied under the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria in
Marawi. Coalition forces helped the Philippine troops with intelligence, advice
and logistic support. While small pockets of terrorists remain, the government
declared the city liberated Oct. 17.
ASEAN
The association has been in
existence for almost 50 years and is a force promoting peace and stability in
the region. It is a forum for the nations to discuss issues among themselves
and hash out ways to cooperate that brings prosperity to the region, Mattis
said. The meeting also marks 40 years of friendship and cooperation between
ASEAN and the United States.
“ASEAN provides an
international venue, giving voice to those who want relations between states to
be based on respect, not on predatory economics or on the size of militaries,”
he said. “ASEAN nations have demonstrated that they can listen to one another,
they identify opportunities to increase defense cooperation for their own
security and seek shared solutions to shared concerns. The U.S. remains
unambiguously committed to supporting ASEAN.”
The secretary will take
advantage of his time at the meeting to visit with his regional counterparts,
he said. In addition to meeting Philippine counterparts, Mattis is scheduled to
meet with representatives of Japan, South Korea, India, Indonesia and Malaysia.
He will also hold trilateral
talks with Japanese and South Korean defense officials.
North Korea
Mattis said the regional
distubances created by North Korea will be on the agenda at ASEAN. He said will
also emphasize the shared values the nations of the alliance have, the
territorial sovereignty of the nations and the need for “freedom of navigation
through historically international waters and fair and reciprocal trade.”
At the conclusion of the
meeting, Mattis will lead the official U.S. delegation to the funeral of Thai
King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who died in October 2016. The royal cremation rite
ends the period of mourning for the country -- one of America’s treaty allies
in the region. “He was understandably beloved by his people and a proponent of
our strong Thailand-United States relationship,” the defense secretary said.
After the ASEAN meeting ends,
Mattis will move on to Seoul, where he and South Korea’s Defense Minister Song
Young-moo will co-chair the 49th annual Security Consultative Meeting. “There,
we will underscore our ironclad commitment to each other,” Mattis said.
North Korea is a threat to
the region and globally, defense officials have said. Two unanimous U.N.
Security Council resolutions have isolated the state from the rest of the
world. The U.N. acted after North Korea detonated nuclear devices and flew an
intercontinental ballistic missile over Japan. During his meetings in South Korea,
the secretary said he will discuss reinforcing diplomatic efforts to return to
a denuclearized Korean peninsula.
The defense leaders will also
discuss “how we are going to maintain peace by keeping our militaries alert
while our diplomats -- Japanese, South Korean and U.S. -- work with all nations
to denuclearize the Korean peninsula,” Mattis said.
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