SINGAPORE, June 1 (Reuters) – Tensions between the United States and China are expected to loom over Asia’s top security meeting this week, as China has declined a bilateral meeting between the superpowers’ defence chiefs.
The Shangri-La Dialogue, which attracts top defence officials, senior military officers, diplomats, weapons makers and security analysts from around the globe, will take place June 2-4 in Singapore.
More than 600 delegates from 49 countries will attend the meeting, which opens with a keynote address by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Analysts say the dialogue is invaluable for the many bilateral and multilateral military-to-military meetings held on the sidelines of plenary sessions and speeches delivered by defence ministers.
China’s new Defence Minister Li Shangfu, however, has declined to meet U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, the Pentagon said on Monday.
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China’s defence ministry spokesperson said in response to a query at a news conference in Beijing that exchanges between the two militaries have always been ongoing but that the U.S. was “entirely to blame” for current difficulties.
“On the one hand, the U.S. keeps saying that it wants to strengthen communication, but on the other hand, it ignores China’s concerns and artificially creates obstacles, seriously undermining the mutual trust between the two militaries,” said the spokesperson, without saying what the obstacles were.
Russia’s war in Ukraine, tensions between China and Taiwan and North Korea’s weapons programmes will also be high on the agenda of many delegates, analysts said. No Russian or North Korean government delegates will attend the meeting.
Some regional diplomats and defence analysts said they will be watching the performance of General Li, who was named China’s new defence minister in March and was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2018 over weapons purchases from Russia.
Although the defence minister is a largely diplomatic and ceremonial post within the Chinese system, Li serves on the powerful Central Military Commission under President Xi Jinping and is close to his key military ally, Zhang Youxia, they said.
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Drew Thompson, a visiting senior research fellow at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore (NUS), said the snub to the U.S. was most likely Xi’s decision.
“The reality is that General Li is coming with a set of instructions to paint the U.S. in a very negative light rather than a set of instructions to engage in dialogue to improve and stabilise the relationship and that is unfortunate,” Thompson said.
NUS political scientist Chong Ja Ian said the lack of a formal bilateral meeting does not mean the two countries will not have contact.
“I’m sure they will go at each other during the plenary sessions, then there are the breakouts and possible informal conversations,” he said.
Lynn Kuok, a senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies – the think tank that organises the Shangri-La Dialogue – said she was not optimistic about U.S.-China relations improving.
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“What we really need to be focused on here, however, are guard rails to prevent competition from spiralling into open conflicts, but I think China is also suspicious of that (the guard rails),” Kuok said.
Other key issues that are likely to be discussed include ongoing tensions in the disputed South China Sea and East China Seas.
The evolving security relationships of AUKUS, which tightens ties between the U.S., Britain and Australia, as well as the Quad grouping of the U.S., Japan, India and Australia are also expected to feature, particularly given China’s concerns that the groupings are an attempt to encircle China.
Reporting by Xinghui Kok and Greg Torode; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Gerry Doyle
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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Xinghui Kok
Thomson Reuters
Xinghui leads the Singapore bureau, directing coverage of one of the region’s bellwether economies and Southeast Asia’s main financial hub. This ranges from macroeconomics to monetary policy, property, politics, public health and socioeconomic issues. She also keeps an eye on things that are unique to Singapore, such as how it repealed an anti-gay sex law but goes against global trends by maintaining policies unfavourable to LGBT families. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/even-singapore-lifts-gay-sex-ban-lgbt-families-feel-little-has-changed-2022-11-29/
Xinghui previously covered Asia for the South China Morning Post and has been in journalism for a decade.
A petition by an Indian man who attempted to avoid extradition to the U.S. has been rejected by the Czech Constitutional Court.
Nikhil Gupta is accused of directing a foiled plot to kill a Sikh separatist on American soil.
Gupta was arrested by Czech authorities in June last year when he traveled from India to Prague.
The Czech Constitutional Court rejected on Wednesday a petition by an Indian man trying to avoid extradition to the United States, which suspects him of involvement in an unsuccessful plot to kill a Sikh separatist on American soil.
A final decision on whether to extradite Nikhil Gupta will be made by Justice Minister Pavel Blazek.
The court said it ruled that lower courts had given due consideration to aspects that may prevent extradition, rejecting the complaint brought by Gupta. It also rejected arguments that the case was political.
“The Constitutional Court did not find any circumstance for which declaring extradition admissible would lead to a violation of any of the constitutionally guaranteed fundamental rights and freedoms,” the court said in a statement.
INDIAN GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEE ACCUSED OF DIRECTING FOILED ASSASSINATION PLOT OF SIKH ACTIVIST ON US SOIL
“For the complainant, this brings the proceedings before the Czech courts to an end.”
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Activists of the Dal Khalsa Sikh organization, a pro-Khalistan group, stage a demonstration demanding justice for Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was killed in June 2023 near Vancouver. The Czech Constitutional Court rejected on Wednesday a petition by an Indian man trying to avoid extradition to the United States, which suspects him of involvement in an unsuccessful plot to kill a Sikh separatist on American soil.(NARINDER NANU/AFP via Getty Images)
A spokesman for the Justice Ministry said Blazek would evaluate the decision before making a ruling on the extradition itself.
Gupta has been accused by U.S. federal prosecutors of working with an Indian government official on a plot to kill a New York City resident who advocated for a sovereign Sikh state in northern India.
Gupta was arrested by Czech authorities in June last year when he traveled from India to Prague.
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The Czech Republic has in the past agreed to U.S. extradition requests.
The move of an experienced senior official to a private law firm has prompted a probe by Emily O’Reilly, responsible for investigating suspected maladministration.
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The latest move of a senior European Commission antitrust official to a private law firm has prompted a probe by the EU’s Ombudsman, who is worried about conflicts of interest.
Revolving doors between the private and public sector can have a “corrosive effect” on public trust, fueling euroscepticism and undermining EU interests, said Emily O’Reilly, in a letter published today (22 May).
In an 8 May press release, law firm Paul, Weiss announced the hire of Henrik Morch, a director in the Commission’s antitrust arm with a 30-year career.
The New York-based law firm cited Morch’s “extensive experience” in handling merger cases as a benefit to the law firm’s clients – a perhaps unfortunate turn of phrase that raised particular hackles for O’Reilly.
“The clear impression is that the Commission has allowed one of its senior officials to work for a non-EU company that anticipates major benefits from that inside knowledge,” said O’Reilly, who investigates suspected maladministration in EU institutions.
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“As this move was not forbidden, the Commission should, without delay, publish the restrictions it has placed on the move,” added her letter, dated 17 May.
To make matters worse, she said, Paul, Weiss hasn’t been clear about its Brussels activities, and the Commission hasn’t said if it will impose any restrictions on Morch’s work with it.
O’Reilly called for the Commission to reform its practices in a probe which closed in 2022 – and which specifically concluded that officials from the competition directorate-general, DG COMP, should be banned from moving to work at private firms that work in related issues.
That followed a number of controversial hires, including the move of Carles Esteva Mosso, a deputy director-general at DG COMP, to become an antitrust partner at Latham & Watkins, and that of Adam Farkas, executive director of the EU’s banking agency, to lobby group the Association for Financial Markets in Europe.
Recent research by Transparency International, published just weeks before the bloc goes to the polls, shows that MEPs collectively earn millions of euros from jobs additional to their lawmaker salary.
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Those extra paid positions are permitted under current rules – but the lobby group cites concerns over conflicts of interest, particularly when MEPS work for company that lobby the EU.
Morch, the Commission and Paul, Weiss did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Protesters and a thousand French police reinforcements were playing a “game of cat and mouse” in New Caledonia, ahead of the arrival of France’s President Emmanuel Macron after the worst riots in 40 years in the French territory, pro-independence groups said on Wednesday.
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