This week, Barack Obamabecame the fourth American presidentto speak to Australia's parliament.Mr. Obama noted the strong tiesbetween the two countries.And, he described their security allianceas "unbreakable."BARACK OBAMA: "From the trenches of the First World Warto the mountains of Afghanistan,Aussies and Americans have stood together.We have fought together;we have given lives together in everysingle major conflict of the past one hundred years,every single one.This solidarity has sustained us through a difficult decade.We will never forget the attacks of nine-eleventhat took the lives not only of Americans,but people from many nations, including Australia."Mr. Obama spoke in Canberra a dayafter he and Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillardannounced plans for expanded military cooperation.They said the goal of the expanded cooperationis to improve security in the Asia and Pacific area.Ms. Gillard said the new cooperationwould strengthen the sixty-year old ANZUS Treaty.The treaty created a defense alliancelinking Australia, New Zealand and the United States.JULIA GILLARD: "We are a region that is growing economically,but stability is important for economic growth, too;and our alliance has been a bedrock of stability in our region."Mr. Obama said the United States is now movingfrom the war on terrorism to economicand security issues in East Asia and the Pacific.He said the American message to the area is,"We are here to stay."Under the new agreement,the United States will deploy up totwo thousand five hundred Marines to Australia.There also would be closer cooperationbetween the two countries' air forces.Officials say a major goal of the agreementis to increase the ability of the United Statesto quickly assist countries in East and Southeast Asia.They say another goal is to trainand exercise with those countries,in areas like reacting to attacks at sea or disasters.Also this week, the United Statesand the Philippines re-stated their supportfor a defense treaty between the two sides.Secretary of State Hillary Clintonsigned a declaration expressing support of the treatyduring a visit to the Philippines.Security experts have described the Americanmoves as an unmistakable message to China.In Beijing, a Foreign Ministry spokesmanexpressed concern at the developments:(SOUND)Chinese spokesman Liu Weimin called for discussionsabout the increased American troop deployment in East Asia.He said China has never taken partin any kind of foreign military alliancelike those formed by the United States.President Obama and other American officialshave repeatedly saidthey welcome a China that is strong and successful.And they say the United Stateshas no plan of containing China.During the past eighteen months,China and some of its neighbors have criticized each otherfor claiming territorial rights in the South China Sea.China says it wants to settle territorial disputes one-on-one,with the countries involved.However, this way of dealingwith the issue has often increased tensions.And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.Go to 51voa.com for transcripts,MP3s and now PDF files of our stories.And follow us on Facebook, Twitter,YouTube and iTunes at VOA Learning English.