Blinken lands in Australia ahead of Indo-Pacific meeting

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia’s Foreign Minister Marise Payne says Secretary of State Antony Blinken and key allies are “voting with their feet” by flying to Australia to focus on challenges in the Indo-Pacific region. Blinken landed in the Australian city of Melbourne on Wednesday ahead of a meeting with Payne as well as their Indian and Japanese counterparts who form the so-called “Quad.” It will be the fourth such ministerial-level meeting of a bloc of Indo-Pacific democracies created to counter China. Blinken has become the most senior member of the Biden administration to set foot in Australia. The visit comes as tensions between Washington and Moscow continue to escalate over Ukraine.