US shifts focus to China risks; Zelenskiy arrives at Asia defence meeting

Reuters:

SINGAPORE, June 1 – U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin tried to refocus attention on China’s threat in the Asia-Pacific on Saturday, seeking to alleviate concerns that conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza have distracted from America’s security commitments in the region.

Just hours after Austin spoke at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue, Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskiy arrived in Singapore, where he will address delegates at the security forum on Sunday.

In a statement on the social media platform X, he said that he had come to gather support from the Asia-Pacific region for a peace summit planned for June 15-16 in Switzerland. He said he planned to hold several meetings, including with Singapore’s President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, Timor-Leste President José Ramos-Horta, Austin, and Singaporean investors.

Austin met his Chinese counterpart, Dong Jun, on the sidelines of the conference on Friday in a bid to cool friction over issues ranging from Taiwan to China’s military activity in the South China Sea.

There has been increasing concern that Washington’s focus on helping Ukraine counter Russia’s invasion and support for Israel’s war in Gaza, while trying to ensure that the conflict does not spread, has taken away attention from the Indo-Pacific.

“Despite these historic clashes in Europe and the Middle East, the Indo-Pacific has remained our priority theatre of operations,” Austin said in his speech, which appeared aimed at underlining the administration’s legacy in the region as President Joe Biden’s first term in office nears its end.