Australia-Japan-Philippines-United States Meeting, Singapore

UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF DEFENSE PETE HEGSETH: Greetings to all of our friends from Japan, Australia, the Philippines, the core group here. A meeting we've been looking forward to for the beginning of this gathering. We've got a lot of friends and allies and partners here, but none closer than this group, none more strategically positioned to manifest deterrence, to bring about peace- that is our shared goal. That's what we talk about when the cameras are here, that's what we talk about when the cameras are not here. It is the cooperation that we uniquely bring together, the coordination, the interoperability, the exercises, in the face of what we all would fairly describe as an unprecedented military build up by China and the requirement of our countries to stand together, bilaterally, trilaterally, as a quad to represent our interests and do so strongly in pursuit of peace. So we look forward to a robust, candid discussion as always going around the table, and we welcome all four countries to represent some opening remarks.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER AND MINISTER FOR DEFENCE RICHARD MARLES: Well thank you, Mr. Secretary. Sitting around this table are four countries which have a commitment to democracy and a commitment to the rule of law. And what we have around this table is, in fact, four friends on a personal level, but that gives expression to the friendship between our four nations and the desire we have to provide balance in the Indo Pacific. As the Secretary said, we have seen the biggest conventional military builder in the world since the end of the Second World War being undertaken by China. And that affects the strategic landscape and the strategic complexity for the region, for the world, with all of us. But what you also have around this table is a commitment- a shared commitment, to provide for the international rules based order in the pursuit of peace. Earlier today, Secretary Hegseth described the American strategic intent of peace through strength. I think that's a fair way of stating the intent that we all have as we gather today. And from an Australian perspective, we very much welcome what we have achieved to this day, and we very much look forward to the discussion today and the work we will do into the future. Thank you.

PHILIPPINE SECRETARY OF NATIONAL DEFENSE GILBERTO TEODORO, JR: Thank you Secretary Hegseth, Mr. Marles, Mr. Nakatani. It is an honour once again, seeking and meeting friends and allies and partners. I echo the words of Richard and Secretary Hegseth that we are here to ensure a lasting, equitable and just peace, particularly for regions that have used struggle for achieving such a means in the face of extremely active and hostile interactions of their neighbours- in Japan and ourselves. And we do this because we have shared values, and our shared value is the fundamental values that we cherish- cherish our freedoms. We look for the future of our children, to the sustainability of our countries and our burden of achieving, not only saying the rules based order as a phrase to describe our alliance, but by putting meat into that construct. And we hope to do that through our defensive alliance. But at the end of the day, the trickledown effect of shared prosperity on a sustainable, just and equitable basis can trickle down to our people, particularly those who need it most. And those who need it most are the most victimized by the overreach of China. And I feel our Japanese colleagues feel the same way, and we are comforted by the fact that foreign partners align in values have made much progress of the beginning of this squad, what is now and what it will become to the future. I've always been optimistic that it will have a life of its own, because we are making results. We are making things happen. And we hope that this is not an exclusionary- we feel that this is not an exclusionary grouping, but an inclusive one, with an open and transparent architecture, on the basis of global order, based on international law and the rules based international order. Thank you.

JAPANESE MINISTER OF DEFENSE NAKATANI GEN: Good afternoon Secretary Hegseth, Minister Marles and Secretary Teodoro. It is a great honour to gather here today with you and meet with you. During the recent situations surrounding the East and South China seas, China's activities are becoming more provocative than ever. Both myself and Secretary Teodoro have (inaudible) first island chains, based on our common challenge. The spirit of the ocean which (inaudible) of each country showing common values to take a broad and panoramic view of the entire Indo Pacific and thus seek to create new values and interests for the entire region by generating synergy through the respective initiatives of each country. So I hope to get endorsements from all of you regarding the ocean spirit. Today in this room, we have staff level participation and I heard that yesterday they had a good discussion in the same format. And today, I'm very much looking forward to having good conversation with you all. Thank you.

ENDS