On Sunday, Australia, the US, and Japan will have a defense trilateral in Darwin

Australia’s Defence Minister Richard Marles announced on Saturday that the defence ministers of the United States, Japan, and Australia will meet in Darwin, Australia, on Sunday to discuss further military cooperation.
According to a statement from Marles’ office, among other topics, Marles, Japanese Defense Minister Gen. Nakatani, and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will talk about collaboration in operations, exercises, technology, and the defense sector.

According to the statement, the conference in the Northern Territory capital of Australia on Sunday would be the 14th of its sort between the three countries, and bilateral meetings would also be held with each of them. The countries stated that they opposed “any destabilising and coercive unilateral actions” in the East China Sea and voiced grave concerns about its security during the most recent trilateral, which was held in Singapore in June.

Japan protested Beijing that same month, claiming that Chinese ships had entered its territorial seas in the East China Sea near disputed islands Beijing refers to as the Diaoyu and Tokyo refers to as the Senkaku, carrying what looked like cannons.