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.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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