U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described Japan on Sunday as indispensable for tackling Chinese aggression and said implementing of a plan to upgrade the U.S military command in the country would get under way.

Hegseth’s praise of Japan contrasts with the criticism he levelled at European allies in February, telling them they should not assume the U.S. presence there would last forever

Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilbert Teodoro on Monday laid out Manila’s plans to deter Chinese efforts in the South China Sea during a speech to Manila’s forces stationed in the region. In his remarks at the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ Western Command’s 49th founding anniversary ceremony,