SINGAPORE – It may have been the namesake of the fictional paradise in British author James Hilton’s Lost Horizon, but the Shangri-La Dialogue was anything but.
New Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth’s debut address at the key annual security forum might have assured allies the Indo-Pacific remains its “priority theatre”, pledging to prevent war and deter aggression so that “shared interests align for peace and prosperity”.
But it also raised more than a few eyebrows among those gathered in Singapore this weekend.
SINGAPORE – The US wants Asian countries to increase their defence spending to match levels that Washington expects of European allies, saying that they bear the brunt of the “threat” of China and North Korea in their backyards.
US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth reassured allies that the Indo-Pacific remains the US “priority theatre” in his address on May 31 at the 22nd Shangri-La Dialogue, a leading security and defence forum focused on the Asia-Pacific.
With nations taking ownership of their own defence, the Pentagon chief said this would in turn boost the collective effort to deal with the “threat” of China’s quest for “hegemonic power in Asia”.
“It is hard to believe I can say this – but Asian allies and partners should look to countries in Europe as a newfound example. Nato members are pledging to spend 5 per cent of their GDP (gross domestic product) on defence, even Germany,” Mr Hegseth said.
“How can it make sense for countries in Europe to do that while key allies and partners in Asia spend far less in the face of a far more formidable threat from communist China, not to mention North Korea?” the former Fox News presenter added.
SINGAPORE – French President Emmanuel Macron urged Asia and Europe to work together in a new coalition based on common principles to push back against the inevitability of being caught between global superpowers.
Singling out the China-US rivalry as the biggest risk confronting the world, the French leader said he wants to be able to cooperate with the US at the same time as compete with but not confront China – while adopting a “demanding approach” that puts France’s interests first.
In expanding on the French doctrines of “strategic autonomy” and “freedom of sovereignty” to a gathering of global leaders at a pre-eminent security forum in the Asia-Pacific, President Macron sketched out a plausible “third way” for Europe and the rest of Asia amid significant shifts in the world order and a world beset by multiple crises.
“The time for non-alignment has undoubtedly passed, but the time for coalitions of action has come and requires that countries capable of acting together give themselves every means to do so,” Mr Macron said in his keynote address at the 22nd Shangri-La Dialogue on May 30.
By Clement Tan | March 28, 2025 | The Straits Times
LUXEMBOURG – Singapore will need to stay predictable and stable, while building deep expertise in some areas, to thrive in a changing world rife with uncertainties, said President Tharman Shanmugaratnam.
He was speaking to Singapore media towards the end of his six-day trip on state visits to Belgium and Luxembourg. Other than national leaders, he also met business leaders in Belgium from sectors ranging from offshore engineering to biomedical technology and sustainability, as well as financial sector leaders in Luxembourg.
“One thing that comes across very strongly in all the conversations we’ve had is that it is critical for us, as small countries especially, to be predictable, to be stable, and to always hold to our side of the bargain,” President Tharman told reporters.
“Singapore is not the cheapest place in Asia to do manufacturing or build ships or anything else, but their companies are making investments for the long term, and for them, it’s predictability and trust in Singapore that brings them to Singapore,” he said.
The first state visits by a Singapore leader to Belgium and Luxembourg come amid significant shifts in the world, with the Trump administration upending longstanding US commitments to the post-Cold War order and imposing trade tariffs on its closest allies.
By Clement Tan | March 24, 2025 | The Straits Times
BRUSSELS – Belgium’s King Philippe and Queen Mathilde received President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and his spouse, Mrs Jane Ittogi Shanmugaratnam, at the Royal Palace on March 24, marking the start of the first state visit by a Singaporean leader since bilateral relations were established nearly 59 years ago.
Arriving in a Mercedes-Benz car at the front plaza of the palace, flanked by members of the Belgian Royal Escort on horses and motorcycles, Mr Tharman inspected the military guard of honour before being ushered into the palace.
He also took part in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, built in memory of Belgian soldiers who died during World War I, and met Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever.
President Tharman and Mr De Wever reaffirmed the longstanding ties between Singapore and Belgium, and discussed the strengthening of collaboration in areas such as maritime, innovation and sustainability.
By Clement Tan | Sept 30, 2024 | The Straits Times
SINGAPORE – Governing leaders should prepare to navigate a complex world order with three superpowers in ways that may enhance their own positions and interests.
That was the frank assessment of former British prime minister Tony Blair in an interview with The Straits Times on Sept 23, while he was in Singapore for the annual Asia Summit of American think-tank Milken Institute.
“You have got to decide where your country fits in the world, because it is going to be a world that is going to be multipolar, (where there) will be, in my view, by the middle of this century, three superpowers effectively: America, China and probably India,” said Mr Blair, who is a self-professed centrist.
“Therefore, you are going to have to build strong alliances that enable you to talk to these three superpowers with some level of, you know, equality,” he added.
SINGAPORE – Two-and-a-half years after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Poland’s Foreign Affairs Minister Radek Sikorski’s exasperation is unmistakable.
“My frustration is that in some parts of the world, people don’t see this Russian aggression for what it is, which is a colonial attempt to regain its… former ‘colony’,” Mr Sikorski told The Straits Times in an interview on Sept 2, during his first official visit to Singapore in his second stint as his country’s chief diplomat.
United Nations member states had voted overwhelmingly to condemn Russia in the immediate aftermath of its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. However, deepening the support for Ukraine has proven a tougher sell outside of Europe and North America, as international attention was diverted by the Middle East crisis and intensifying US-China competition.
With their shared history of Russian control, Poland has been among Ukraine’s loudest and biggest advocates. If Mr Putin succeeds in Ukraine, the existential fear is that he would go on to invade and retake Poland and former Soviet territories such as Estonia, Georgia and Latvia.
SINGAPORE – The United States wants to meld its strategic alliances and partnerships in Asia into a “new convergence” based on the rule of law – a commitment that its defence chief said will continue regardless of the outcome of the presidential election in November.
Mr Lloyd Austin evoked “a future of fresh and growing partnerships” in a speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue on June 1, which immediately elicited a question from a Chinese military delegate on whether the US was planning to build “a Nato-like system in the Asia-Pacific region”.
In response, the US Secretary of Defence described it as a strengthening of relationships with allies and partners based on a common vision and common values.
He also emphatically rejected the Chinese delegate’s suggestion that Nato’s eastern expansion was responsible for the war in Ukraine, eliciting applause from many in the audience.
TAIPEI — “One day, we’ll get our victory,” Ko Wen-je, the vanquished presidential candidate for the Taiwan People’s Party, said at his concession speech two weeks ago.
He urged his disappointed young supporters, some of them crying, not to give up, and framed himself as a one-man social movement crusading for political change.
“For me, over the last 10 years, whether I was in office or standing for election, I have always regarded it as a social movement aimed at changing political culture. Since this social movement has not fully materialized, let’s keep working hard,” the former Taipei City Mayor told supporters in Mandarin.
While he may have finished last in the first competitive three-way race for the Taiwan presidency since 2000, Ko garnered more than a quarter of the popular vote — disrupting the usual stranglehold of the dominant political parties, the ruling Democratic Progressive Party and Kuomintang.
The 63-year-old clearly resonated with the young and educated as he spoke plainly into their everyday bread-and-butter issues, including soaring housing costs and stagnant wages at a time of high inflation.
India suspended visa applications in Canada on Thursday due to unspecified security threats, while demanding Ottawa reduce its diplomatic staffing in India on grounds of interference in domestic affairs in an escalation of the festering diplomatic crisis between the two countries.
The feud was sparked Monday by the Canadian government’s announcement of “credible allegations” the Indian government orchestrated the extra-judicial slaying of a Sikh separatist in Canada. New Delhi had slammed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s claims as “baseless” and “absurd” and accused Ottawa of being sympathetic to anti-India causes.
“The issue is not about travel to India — those who have valid visas and other kinds of document like OCI are free to travel to India — but the issue is of incitement of violence and the creation of an environment that disrupt the functioning of our high commission and consulates,” Arindam Bagchi, the official spokesperson for India’s Ministry of External Affairs, said at a regular news conference in New Delhi on Thursday.
OCI is short for Overseas Citizenship of India, a form of permanent residence for people of Indian origin that grants a lifetime of entry into the country, along with some benefits.
The move will curtail Indian travel for Canadians, even if they apply in third countries, Bagchi said, adding that this temporary suspension will involve all visas, including e-visas. He said this situation will be reviewed on a regular basis.
