Japanese Defense Minister Hamada Yasukazu, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, and Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles during talks held on October 1 in Hawaii condemned China's August drills near Taiwan, the Japanese Defense Ministry said in a statement released on Sunday on its website, TASS reported.
The ministers also reaffirmed the intention of Japan, the US, and Australia to "expand and strengthen trilateral training and activities in particular as well as promote defense equipment and technology cooperation and effectively exchange information with the view to enhance trilateral interoperability".
The Chinese People's Liberation Army began large-scale military drills with missile firing in six areas of Taiwan's waters in early August.
They began a day after the end of a visit to Taipei by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, which provoked a harsh reaction from Beijing. Because of the planned firing, Chinese authorities warned against allowing civilian aircraft and ships to enter the six areas in question.
According to the Japanese Defense Ministry, five of the Dongfeng ballistic missiles launched by China fell within Japan's exclusive economic zone on August 4.
RHM/PR
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