WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth are meeting their Australian counterparts Monday in Washington for annual talks expected to focus on Indo-Pacific security and countering China’s increasing assertiveness in the region, including in the South China Sea and directed at Taiwan .

Rubio, Hegseth, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Defense Minister Richard Marles gathered at the State Department, with many eyes also on the Russia-Ukraine war , fragile ceasefire in Gaza and U.S. military strikes against alleged drug traffickers in the Western Hemisphere that have raised questions about the use of force there.

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