A: Hey there! What's up?
B: Just chilling, what's new with you?
A: So, did you hear about that meeting in Singapore last weekend?
B: Nope, tell me!
A: Well, defense ministers from Japan, the US, Australia, and the Philippines got together to talk about their region.
B: Oh, which region was that?
A: The Indo-Pacific! They want it to be open and free, you know?
B: Sounds good! But why was China in the conversation?
A: Well, Japan's defense minister said China has been getting more active in the East and South China Seas.
B: Ooh, that doesn't sound great. What did they plan to do about it?
A: They agreed to help the Philippines increase its defense capabilities. They also discussed surveillance, reconnaissance, and information-sharing.
B: And what about the US Tomahawk cruise missiles?
A: The ministers from Japan, the US, and Australia had a chat before the main meeting, and they agreed to do some exercises with those missiles and build an info-sharing system for their missile defense.
B: Wow, that's a lot! But it sounds like they want to keep the region stable.
A: Exactly! They also mentioned the importance of protecting navigation and overflight freedom.
B: That's awesome! I hope everything works out well for them.
A: Me too, buddy! It's important we have open seas, right?
----------------

Defense ministers from Japan, the United States and Australia have agreed to help the Philippines increase its defense capabilities as part of their efforts to create a free and open Indo-Pacific region.



The agreement was reached at a quadrilateral defense meeting held on Saturday in Singapore.
Japanese Defense Minister Nakatani Gen, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles and Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro attended.



Speaking at the opening of the meeting, Nakatani said China has been increasing its activities in the East and South China Seas.
He expressed his hope to have a full debate among the four nations on defense cooperation.



The four officials expressed serious concerns over China's activities causing regional instability and its attempts to change the status quo unilaterally by force or coercion.
They acknowledged the need to protect the freedom of navigation and overflight.



The defense ministers agreed to export equipment to the Philippines to help increase its defense capabilities.



They also plan to conduct surveillance and reconnaissance activities and jointly collect information.



The officials announced a joint statement confirming these issues.



Ahead of this meeting, the defense ministers from Japan, the US and Australia also held trilateral talks.
They agreed to carry out exercises to test fire US Tomahawk cruise missiles and build an information-sharing mechanism for their missile defense systems.