As the US and China vie to establish new partnerships and expand influence with nations in the Asia-Pacific region, top defense officials from both countries are preparing to win support from their regional counterparts, diplomats and leaders at a security forum in Singapore this weekend.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, whose country is a stalwart US ally in the Pacific region, was to give the keynote address yesterday evening to open the dialogue at the Shangri-La Hotel hosted by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
Albanese, whose country has angered Beijing with its agreement with the UK and the US, known as AUKUS, to obtain nuclear-powered submarines to address a perceived rising threat from China, said that he would focus on Australia’s deepening engagement, as well as “shared opportunities and challenges” in the region.
Photo: Reuters
“We want a region that is stable, peaceful, resilient and prosperous,” he said when his speech was announced.
This year’s dialogue comes amid a wide range of issues, including the war in Ukraine and its regional implications, China’s support for Russia, the conflict in Myanmar, and growing tensions between China and the US over Beijing’s claims to Taiwan.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin would today give an opening speech on US “leadership in the Indo-Pacific,” the Pentagon said.
Chinese Minister of National Defense Li Shangfu (李尚福) would tomorrow lead with a speech on his country’s new security initiatives.
Austin began his trip to the region in Japan, where Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has been one of the most outspoken leaders in Asia against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Kishida has ramped up Japan’s defense spending, and cautioned others at the Shangri-La forum last year that “Ukraine today may be East Asia tomorrow.”
China has refused to criticize Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and has blamed the US and NATO for provoking Moscow.
During a trip in April to Moscow, Li pledged to expand military cooperation, military-technical ties and the arms trade with Russia.
“We will certainly take them to a new level,” he said at the time.
On the sidelines of the conference in Singapore, Austin plans to meet with “key leaders to advance US defense partnerships across the region in support of our shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific anchored in ASEAN centrality,” the US Department of Defense said.
Following the conference, Austin would travel to New Delhi to meet with his Indian counterpart for talks on issues including expanding “operational cooperation between the US and Indian militaries,” it said.
Like the US, many of its allies have been increasing their focus on the Indo-Pacific region, and the conference brings together many top officials, including defense ministers from Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, South Korea, Sweden, the UK and Ukraine.
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue