US Secretary of Defence Mark Esper speaks next to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during a joint news conference with their Australia counterparts in Sydney, Australia, August 4, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/Pool

Vietnam and the US have sustained growth in bilateral defense ties in accordance with the existing cooperative mechanisms and the framework of the comprehensive partnership, Hang said.

China is destabilizing the Indo-Pacific, Esper said on his first overseas trip as US defense secretary to Australia, charging Beijing with predatory economics, intellectual property theft and “weaponizing the global commons”.

“We firmly believe no one nation can or should dominate the Indo-Pacific and we are working alongside our allies and partners to address the region’s pressing security needs,” Esper told reporters in Sydney.

“We also stand firmly against a disturbing pattern of aggressive behavior, destabilizing behavior from China. This includes weaponizing the global commons, using predatory economics and debt for sovereignty deals, and promoting state-sponsored theft of other nations’ intellectual property.”

Both Esper and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with their Australian counterparts in Sydney on August 4 at an annual security forum where the United States and Australia pledged to strengthen opposition to Chinese activities in the Pacific.

The United States and its Western allies worry that China is using foreign aid to secure greater influence over small Pacific countries which control vast swathes of resource-rich ocean./.

VNF/VGP/Reuters