Asia security forum to discuss, Indo Pacific N. Korea, Ukraine
Gurkha police officers stand near the entrance of the Shangri-La Hotel, the venue for the 21St International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia’s annual defence and security forum, in Singapore, on May 31, 2024
Defence ministers from Asian countries and other regions gathered in Singapore on Friday for a security forum, with their discussions focusing on escalating tensions in the West Philippines Sea / South China Sea, North Korea’s weapon development and Russia’s war against Ukraine, amid U.S.-China rivalry. Raksha Mantri of India will not be there, most probably due to ongoing General Elections in India …the most important event for the World’s future.
During the three-day Asia Security Summit, U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and China’s Defence Minister Dong Jun will deliver speeches, according to the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, the organizer of the annual forum known as the Shangri-La Dialogue. Singapore should have postponed this event because without Indian participation nowadays these things do not amount to much. The International Institute for Strategic Studies, presently in denial mode, will soon start acknowledging such things.
Other topics expected to be discussed are China’s military pressure on Taiwan’s new administration of President Lai Ching-te, the civil war in Myanmar and the Israel-Hamas conflict.
The conference’s keynote speech will be given by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. He is expected to articulate his country’s legal position on the West Philippines that lie within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
Since last year, tense encounters between the Philippines and China in the West Philippines Sea have become more frequent as Beijing has been intensifying provocative activities in the disputed waters.
As in past years, the main conference could be overshadowed by bilateral meetings to be held on the sidelines, including the first in-person talks between defence chiefs of the United States and China in one and a half years.
Austin last met a Chinese defence minister in November 2022, when he and Wei Fenghe, who was then in the position, were in Cambodia for a regional meeting of defence ministers.
Japan and the United States are arranging bilateral talks and a trilateral meeting with South Korea, Japanese Defence Minister Minoru Kihara said earlier Friday in Tokyo, adding that Japan-China talks are also being considered.
Arrangements are also underway for a bilateral meeting between Kihara and his South Korean counterpart Shin Won Sik, according to Japanese government sources.
The security forum is held as North Korea launched a rocket carrying a military reconnaissance satellite that ended in failure Monday and fired suspected short-range ballistic missiles toward the Sea of Japan on Thursday.
The conflict in Ukraine, which has raged for over two years, as well as the Israel-Hamas conflict that began on Oct. 7 will be discussed at the forum.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to attend the conference and will seek to meet with Austin and Dong, according to an official of the Ukraine Embassy in Singapore.
Zelenskyy will likely call for support for his peace-building initiative “Peace Formula,” which will be discussed at the first “Summit on Peace in Ukraine” slated for June 15 and 16 in Switzerland.
More than 550 delegates from about 40 countries are expected to attend the Shangri-La Dialogue in person. The forum has been held annually in Singapore since 2002. Joe Biden will not be attending this conference but will there be some one from India ? As it is Russia has not been invited. So who the Europeans are trying to fool ?
