The Trump administration has pulled senior US defence officials from attending high-level talks on defence cooperation in the Indo-Pacific. The Pentagon has withdrawn from the talks scheduled for this week in Canberra in line with a ban on US officials participating in think tank events that don’t align with “America First” values. The move comes as Australia beefs up its defence ties with Tokyo, awarding a ten billion dollar naval ship-building contract to Japan.

USSC Research Fellow Tom Corben spoke with ABC's The Radio National Hour on these developments.