ASEAN = Association of Southeast Asian Nations, plus the United States, China, and other countries, an expanded defense ministers' meeting was held. Regarding the situation in the South China Sea, Indonesia's defense minister, who chaired the meeting, said, "We do not want to escalate tensions," and confirmed that ASEAN and China will continue to make efforts to formulate rules to prevent conflict.
In Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, an expanded defense ministers' meeting was held on the 16th, including the member countries of ASEAN and the eight countries concerned.
As the United States and China agreed to resume the defense ministers' meeting, the meeting was attended by U.S. Secretary of Defense Austin and China's Deputy Chief of Staff Jing Jianfeng of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as well as Vice Minister of Defense Miyazawa of Japan and Vice Minister of Defense Fomin of Russia.
Speaking at a press conference after the meeting, Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo said that the two sides discussed the situation in the South China Sea, which is disputed by China with some member states, saying, "We will continue to work to formulate a code of conduct to prevent misunderstandings and unintentional incidents, and we do not want to escalate tensions." The two sides confirmed that they would proceed with the formulation of rules to prevent conflicts in the South China Sea.
In addition, multiple countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia, which have large Muslims, expressed concern about the situation of the deepening humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, and Defense Minister Prabowo emphasized that "I asked all influential countries to use their influence to immediately stop actions against innocent people."