TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Chief of General Staff Admiral Mei Chia-shu (梅家樹) attended the handover ceremony of the United States Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) to Adm. Samuel Paparo in Hawaii, reports said Saturday (May 4).
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin presided over Friday’s (May 3) ceremony at the Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. Over the past three years, INDOPACOM was led by Adm. John Aquilino.
Mei’s presence at the event showed how close military relations are between the two countries, the Liberty Times reported. In his address, Paparo said he would work closely with U.S. allies to defend peace in the region based on the rule of law, and that he would oppose any plans to disrupt that peace.
He also lambasted China’s aggressive behavior in the region, using the terms “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive” (ICAD) to describe Beijing’s claims over Indo-Pacific areas, according to Nikkei Asia. Paparo said the expression was coined by the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, General Romeo Brawner.