Barack Obama, Shinzo Abe and Tony Abbott on Sunday agreed to deepen their countries’ military co-operation and work together on strengthening maritime security in the Asia-Pacific region.
The meeting between the US president and the prime ministers of Japan and Australia risked antagonising Beijing after a week in which Mr Obama reached an agreement with Chinese President Xi Jinping on climate change and trade, and Mr Abe held a landmark summit with Mr Xi to improve their countries’ relationship.
In a joint statement after the meeting, the three leaders said they had agreed to “deepen the already strong security and defence co-operation” between their countries and work on boosting “maritime security capacity building”, in a region rife with disputes between China and its neighbours over claims to waters and islands.