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According to a Financial Times (FT) report, the Pentagon is pressing Japan and Australia to make clear what role they would play if the US and China went to conflict over China’s Taiwan island, which has frustrated the two American allies.

Elbridge Colby, under-secretary of defence for policy, has been pushing the issue in meetings with Japanese and Australian defence officials in recent months, said five people familiar with the discussions, according to the FT report.

According to the newspaper, the reported request caught both Tokyo and Canberra off guard, as the US itself does not offer a blank cheque guarantee to the island, Reuters reported, citing the FT report.

Colby is known for arguing that the US military should prioritize competition with China and shift its focus from the Middle East and Europe, according to Reuters.

China Foreign Ministry has repeatedly stressed that the Taiwan question is entirely China’s internal affair, and no country is in a position to interfere.

Global Times