The 20th Shangri-La Dialogue (hereinafter referred to as "Shangri-La Dialogue") officially opened on June 2.
Early the next day (3rd), US Secretary of Defense Austin delivered a speech. According to the video footage of the incense meeting, during the live interactive session, Zhang Chi, an associate professor at the National Security College of the National Defense University, asked the question: "The topic of today's discussion is American leadership. However, while the United States says it wants to support ASEAN's centrality in the region, it has established many multilateral organizations such as AUKUS and QUAD. ”
"Is this the leadership of the United States? Isn't that contradictory? Zhang Chi questioned.
Professor Zhang Chi questioned Austin on the spot, video screenshot
AUKUS is a regional military alliance established by the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia in September 2021, the full name of which is the "Trilateral Security Alliance Agreement between the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia". Under the agreement, Britain and the United States helped Australia build nuclear submarines, which also raised fears of nuclear proliferation in Southeast Asian countries.
The QUAD, or Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, includes the United States, Japan, Australia and India. Regarding this organization, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs previously pointed out that China has always believed that any regional cooperation mechanism should not target a third party, or harm the interests of a third party, engage in a closed and exclusive "small circle" targeting other countries, go against the trend of the times, run counter to the wishes of regional countries, be unpopular and doomed to fail.
It is worth mentioning that both AUKUS and QUAD are dominated by the United States and both claim to be committed to maintaining peace and stability in the "Indo-Pacific region", but the member states do not include ASEAN members.
Professor Zhang Chi's question hit the nail on the head, while Austen's answer avoided the important.
"I don't think I grasp the whole point of the problem, but think that the center of your problem lies in AUKUS." After Austin spoke to himself, he actually "sold" AUKUS to the participants, and talked about the role of AUKUS in maintaining regional security and stability.
"AUKUS is conducive to promoting regional security and stability... I THINK AUKUS PLAYED THE CAPACITY OF GENERATIONS ... I am very confident that AUKUS will increase regional security and stability..." The observer network noticed that in Austin's short answer, the words security, stability, and capability appeared nine times. As for how AUKUS contributes to regional security and stability, he did not say a word.
Austin repeatedly mentions words such as "security" and "stability", video screenshot
The Shangri-La Dialogue is one of the world's largest and highest-profile multilateral security forums. According to Singapore media, this year's incense meeting lasted for three days. More than 600 delegates from more than 40 countries, including 48 ministerials and more than 35 senior defence officials, will be attended by Australian Prime Minister Albanese to deliver the keynote address.
On the eve of the meeting, the world is watching one question: whether the Chinese and US defense ministers will meet during the meeting.
Recently, the US side has repeatedly said that it is seeking a meeting between the Chinese and US defense ministers, and then unilaterally said that the request "has been rejected by the Chinese side." Since then, U.S. officials headed by U.S. Defense Secretary Austin have begun to hype up "China's refusal to meet the two defense ministers." At the same time, the Pentagon began playing up the South China Sea issue and engaged in military exercises and multilateral defense ministers' meetings targeting China.
According to a press release issued on the Pentagon's website, in a June 3 speech, U.S. Defense Secretary Austin, while wooing allies, still tried to shift the responsibility for the current difficulties in bilateral relations to China, slandering China for "unwillingness to maintain open communication channels with the United States."
Tan Kefei, spokesman for the Mainland Defense Ministry, responded a few days ago that dialogue cannot be without principles, and communication cannot be without a bottom line. At present, the responsibility for the difficulties faced by the two militaries lies entirely with the US side. On the one hand, the US side has repeatedly said that it wants to strengthen communication, but on the other hand, it has created artificial obstacles and seriously undermined the mutual trust between the two militaries despite China's concerns. At present, the US side should demonstrate sincerity and correct mistakes with practical actions, so as to create the necessary conditions and due atmosphere for communication and exchanges between the two sides.
According to the @CGTN press corps on the evening of June 2, Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu shook hands with US Secretary of Defense Austin at the opening dinner of the Shangri-La Dialogue. @玉渊谭天 commented that at the Shangri-La Dialogue Dinner in Singapore, defense ministers of different countries shook hands and had cordial conversations with their Chinese defense counterparts. For China, exchanges and sincerity are needed.
The Chinese and US defense ministers shake hands, pictured from the @CGTN press corps
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