French President Emmanuel Macron and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth are among the world leaders, diplomats and top defense officials who are in Singapore this weekend for a security forum that is to focus on China’s growing assertiveness, the global impact of Russia’s war on Ukraine and the flare-up of conflicts in Asia.
Macron was to open the conference with a keynote address yesterday night, touching on all of those issues, as well as the pressure the hefty tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump’s administration is putting on Asian allies.
Hegseth said that Washington’s policies were meant to deter a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“We seek no conflict with anybody, including the Communist Chinese,” he said. “We will stay strong for our interests. And that’s a big part of what this trip is all about.”
China, which usually sends its minister of defense to the forum, sent a much lower level delegation instead, represented by Major General Hu Gangfeng (胡鋼鋒), the vice president of the People’s Liberation Army National Defense University.
The delegation was expected to speak today on a panel on “cooperative maritime security” alongside representatives from Japan, Vietnam, Chile and the UK.
Photo: AFP
Officials traveling with Hegseth, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, because they were not authorized to speak to the media, called the absence of a higher-level Chinese delegation an opportunity for the US to make inroads.
Hegseth had visited the Philippines in March, which brought a degree of relief over growing concerns from the Philippines and others in the region about US support from a president who has taken more of a transactional approach to diplomacy and seems wary of foreign engagements.
The US has been pursuing a “free and open Indo-Pacific” policy, which includes regularly sailing warships through the Taiwan Strait and in the South China Sea.
Several European nations have also taken part in freedom of navigation exercises in the region, including France, which sent a carrier strike group on a five-month mission through the Indo-Pacific that concluded last month.
In its published Indo-Pacific region strategy, France has underscored the need to “preserve a rules-based international order” in the face of “China’s increasing power and territorial claims” and its global competition with the US.
Following a meeting yesterday with Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), Macron told reporters there was room in the region for more than just the two superpowers.
“We are neither China nor the US, we don’t want to depend on any of them,” he said. “We want to cooperate with both as far as we can, and we can cooperate for growth and prosperity and stability for our people and the world order, and I think this is exactly the same view of a lot of countries and a lot of people of this region.”
Wong underscored Macron’s point, saying that Singapore and the greater region were not looking for exclusive arrangements with any single power.
“We want to embrace comprehensive engagement with all parties and embrace win-win arrangements rather than zero-sum competition,” he said.
WAITING GAME: The US has so far only offered a ‘best rate tariff,’ which officials assume is about 15 percent, the same as Japan, a person familiar with the matter said Taiwan and the US have completed “technical consultations” regarding tariffs and a finalized rate is expected to be released soon, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference yesterday, as a 90-day pause on US President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs is set to expire today. The two countries have reached a “certain degree of consensus” on issues such as tariffs, nontariff trade barriers, trade facilitation, supply chain resilience and economic security, Lee said. They also discussed opportunities for cooperation, investment and procurement, she said. A joint statement is still being negotiated and would be released once the US government has made
NEW GEAR: On top of the new Tien Kung IV air defense missiles, the military is expected to place orders for a new combat vehicle next year for delivery in 2028 Mass production of Tien Kung IV (Sky Bow IV) missiles is expected to start next year, with plans to order 122 pods, the Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) latest list of regulated military material showed. The document said that the armed forces would obtain 46 pods of the air defense missiles next year and 76 pods the year after that. The Tien Kung IV is designed to intercept cruise missiles and ballistic missiles to an altitude of 70km, compared with the 60km maximum altitude achieved by the Missile Segment Enhancement variant of PAC-3 systems. A defense source said yesterday that the number of
Taiwanese exports to the US are to be subject to a 20 percent tariff starting on Thursday next week, according to an executive order signed by US President Donald Trump yesterday. The 20 percent levy was the same as the tariffs imposed on Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh by Trump. It was higher than the tariffs imposed on Japan, South Korea and the EU (15 percent), as well as those on the Philippines (19 percent). A Taiwan official with knowledge of the matter said it is a "phased" tariff rate, and negotiations would continue. "Once negotiations conclude, Taiwan will obtain a better
FLOOD RECOVERY: “Post-Typhoon Danas reconstruction special act” is expected to be approved on Thursday, the premier said, adding the flood control in affected areas would be prioritized About 200cm of rainfall fell in parts of southern Taiwan from Monday last week to 9am yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Kaohsiung’s Taoyuan District (桃源) saw total rainfall of 2,205mm, while Pingtung County’s Sandimen Township (三地門) had 2,060.5mm and Tainan’s Nanhua District (南化) 1,833mm, according to CWA data. Meanwhile, Alishan (阿里山) in Chiayi County saw 1,688mm of accumulated rain and Yunlin County’s Caoling (草嶺) had 1,025mm. The Pingtung County Government said that 831 local residents have been pre-emptively evacuated from mountainous areas. A total of 576 are staying with relatives in low-lying areas, while the other 255 are in shelters. CWA forecaster
RSS