Department of Defense spokesperson Lt. Col. Martin Meiners provided the following readout:

Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (A/DASD) for East Asia Andrew Winternitz concluded his visit to Japan last week after attending the Japan Pacific Islands Defense Dialogue.

The Japan-hosted dialogue featured important engagements on regional Pacific Islands issues like maritime security, climate change, emerging technology, and humanitarian assistance/disaster response. A/DASD Winternitz also participated in 12 bilateral meetings with Pacific Islands leaders from the Cook Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Republic of Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Samoa, Tonga, and Vanuatu. In addition, he met bilaterally with counterparts from France, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Australia.

"This dialogue marked an important opportunity to connect with a wide range of Pacific Island partners and exchange views on shared defense and security issues in the region," A/DASD Winternitz said. "We thank our Japanese colleagues for their leadership in hosting this dialogue, and we look forward to deepening these important relationships."