US won’t flinch if interests threatened, defence secretary tells China

Washington keen to partner with other powers in the Indo-Pacific region to ensure stability, Lloyd Austin saysThe US secretary of defence, Lloyd Austin, has said that Washington does not seek conflict with Beijing but is eager to partner with other powers in the Indo-Pacific region to ensure the stability of it, amid a diplomatic standoff between the US and China.“We will not flinch when our interests are threatened. Yet we do not seek confrontation,” Austin said in speech in Singapo