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U.S. Against China’s Destabilizing Behavior, Esper Says

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Mike Pompeo and Mark Esper at a news conference in Sydney on Aug. 4.
Mike Pompeo and Mark Esper at a news conference in Sydney on Aug. 4. Photographer: Brendon Thorne/Bloomberg

Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said the U.S. is firmly against China’s “destabilizing” behavior in the Indo-Pacific region and won’t stand by while one country reshapes the area, continuing a war of words between the superpowers.

There is a “disturbing pattern of aggressive” conduct, Esper said at a press conference in Sydney on Sunday, speaking after annual strategy talks with his Australian counterparts.