On Saturday ,May 25, the Pentagon announced an expected meeting between US defense secretary Lloyd Austin and his Chinese counterpart Admiral Dong Jun at a major defense conference in Singapore, next week.
This would be the first visit after the 2022 straining visit by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi which resulted in China temporarily banning most military-to-military communications.
In the light of China’s increasing aggression towards Taiwan with little shows of military exercises prompting Taiwan to prepare itself for a war, the US has warned China against using Taiwans’ political transition as a “pretext or excuse” for provocative or coercive measures.
Singapore is organizing the annual meeting of defense ministers and government officials from more than 50 countries titled Shangri La Dialogue, next week. The two secretaries will meet there during the three day conference. The encounter would be a part of an effort to patch up ties that have deteriorated over Beijing’s aggressive policies towards Taiwan and its vast territorial claims in the South China Sea.
Following this, the US secretary will fly to Cambodia for his official trip.
Shangri-La-Dialogue
The Shangri-la-Dialogue hosted by the International Institute for Strategic Studies is a unique platform for debate among government ministers and senior officials, as well as business leaders and security experts, on Asia’s developing security challenges.
It is held annually in Singapore enabling decision-makers from across the Asia-Pacific, North America, Europe and the Middle East to gather together to discuss the most pressing regional security issues and to share policy responses. It features plenary debates led by government ministers, as well as important opportunities for bilateral discussions among delegations.
This year the premier defense summit is scheduled to be held on 31 May – 2 June 2024.
Also Read: Pentagon says Russia launched space weapon COSMOS 2576.
Glancin at US-China bilateral relations
With One China policy the United States had established its diplomatic relations with China and severed normal ties with Taiwan. The same year, 1978, the Congress approved the Taiwan Relations Act allowing continued commercial and cultural relations between the United States and Taiwan
In 1982, Reagan’s administration worked to balance out relations with Taiwan and PRC without jeopardizing the other. Fast forward to 2023, interactions between China and the US have increased after President Biden hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping in November and stressed upon keeping open communication.
President Joe Biden’s administration and China have been stepping up communication to ease friction, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken visiting Beijing and Shanghai last month. Later a phone call in April between the defense secretaries of the two nations led to this expected meeting in the Singapore conference.
Official Visit to Cambodia
After the Singapore defense summit ends on June 2, Lloyd Austin is scheduled to make an official visit to one of China’s closest allies in Southeast Asia – Cambodia.
Relations with Cambodia have been pretty frosty for the United States considering its closeness with Beijing. The US has publicly criticized Cambodia’s poor human rights record and persisting suppressions of political dissidents and critics. Washington is precisely concerned about a naval base in Southern Cambodia that has been upgraded with Chinese assistance and might serve as a strategic purpose for the Chinese navy.
In his first visit, since the Asian defense ministers gathering in 2022 and Hun Manet taking over his father’s office and becoming a Prime Minister, Austin aims to establish warmer ties with Cambodia given its distraught past history with the nation.