US Vice President Mike Pence to visit Australia this month

Former US Ambassador Kim Beazley has confirmed that US Vice President Mike Pence is set to visit Australia this month. He said one of the agenda of Pence’s visit could be the territorial carve-up of Syria.

Beazley also disclosed that the government plans to ask Pence about how far the United States would go on North Korea. The latter has started with his Asian tour this week with a visit to the demilitarised Zone which separates North and South Korea, in which he warned that the US’ “era of strategic patience’’ is over with North Korea.

Pence is set to meet Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten in Sydney. In February, Bishop invited the US vice president to visit Australia after reports of US President Donald Trump and Turnbull’s controversial phone call over a refugee resettlement program, which the POTUS described as a “worst deal.”

Beazley said there may be talks about the US’ position on the potential territorial carve-up of Syria, adding that he thinks it is quite possible that the officials would be discussing in detail the aftermath of victory over ISIL on a territorial basis, The Australian reported. James Brown, director of Research at the US Studies Centre at Sydney University, said the talks may also centre on Trump’s view on options to defy North Korea’s nuclear program.

He also believed that the Turnbull government may bring concerns about the regional trade deal in the Asia Pacific. “They might also restate the case for keeping the idea of some sort of regional trade deal alive,” he added.

Pence is expected to visit the Land Down Under with his wife, Karen. The Washington Post disclosed last month that he was not dining with other women and did not prefer to be in a room with them if his wife is not around. Karen was described as her husband’s “prayer warrior, gut check and shield” in an article, which also revealed that she once had a special phone installed in her husband’s workplace in Washington that only she had the number for.

Prior to his visit in Australia, Pence arrived in Tokyo for talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. According to AFP, the former hailed the security ties between the US and Japan during his visit. "The alliance between the United States and Japan is the cornerstone of peace and security in Northeast Asia," he said. Pence would be the first US Vice President to visit Australia before a president in nearly 30 years.