US Vice President Mike Pence has reaffirmed US adherence to the refugee agreement with Australia during a meeting with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in Sydney.
Mr Pence's trip to the region is the first by a senior official in President Donald Trump's administration as the USA looks to strengthen economic ties and security cooperation amid disputes in the South China Sea and tension on the Korean peninsula.
Pence was greeted in Sydney on Saturday by Australian Governor-General Peter Cosgrove.
Pence and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull repeatedly praised the decades-long American-Australian alliance following a meeting in Sydney, with the vice president passing along President Donald Trump's "very best regards" and thanking Turnbull for calling on Beijing to be more assertive in the worldwide effort to de-escalate Pyongyang's nuclear threat. "Frankly looking back at the last administration, the President has never been shy about expressing frustration with other global agreements, most notably the so-called nuclear agreement with Iran".
Pence's trip to Australia comes during a period of unusual tension in the Australian-American alliance.
Jason Kipnis expected to be activated from DL on Friday
Kipnis played in just two exhibition games after reporting to spring training with a sore shoulder. Additionally, Kipnis stole 15 bases in 18 attempts and had a.469 slugging percentage.
Trump's frustration over the agreement and reports of his contentious first call with Turnbull led to concern that America's longstanding alliance with Australia, an important regional ally, might be dented.
"Let me make it clear, the United States intends to honor the agreement..." He's performing important duties like meeting with Australia's prime minister, posing very seriously in a leather jacket at Korea's demilitarized zone and choosing mandatory in-flight entertainment for the press.
Pence is on a 10-day, four-country trip to Asia that has taken him to South Korea, Japan and Indonesia. Cosgrove says the relationship is "as strong today" as it was since "the first time we saw each other on the battlefield in 1919".
He's expected to meet with Turnbull, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, opposition leader Bill Shorten and others.
On Sunday, Pence and his family were to tour Sydney's iconic Opera House, take a boat ride in the harbor and visit the city's Taronga Zoo.
Comments