US, Australia open talks focused on China

Shares The United States and Australia on Monday opened top-level talks in which they are expected to seek a common front amid soaring tensions between Washington and Beijing. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Mark Esper welcomed to Washington their Australian counterparts, Marise Payne and Linda Reynolds, for two days of talks that will include a news conference on Tuesday. The annual talks come as President Donald Trump's administration takes an increasingly hard line against China on issues from defense to human rights to trade. The...