U.S. to focus on maintaining status quo over Taiwan: Pentagon chief

The United States will focus on maintaining the status quo around Taiwan in the face of China's growing assertiveness, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told a key Asia security gathering on Saturday, noting a "free and open Indo-Pacific" is central to his nation's security strategies.With Russia's invasion of Ukraine reminding the world of the dangers of undermining the international order, Austin said in a speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore that the rules-based international order "matters just as much in the Indo-Pacific as it does in Europe.""Today, the Indo-Pacific is at the h…READ FULL ARTICLE