Canadian defence minister Bill Blair was in Singapore over the weekend for the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual gathering of top defence officials, academics, and journalists.
Blair met with his Chinese counterpart, Dong Jun, in the first meeting between Canadian and Chinese defence chiefs in 11 years. Ottawa’s readout said Blair raised concerns over Taiwan, foreign interference, and China’s economic support to Russia. Blair also stressed, twice, the need for “open lines of communication.”
Bilateral defence dialogue has picked up of late: in April, the commander of Canada’s navy attended a naval symposium in Qingdao, “the first senior Canadian military officer to visit China since late 2019,” according to the Ottawa Citizen.
On the margins of the Shangri-La Dialogue, Blair spoke with seven other defence chiefs, including counterparts from Japan, the Philippines, and South Korea. Blair also announced the deployment of three Canadian vessels to Hawaii for the Exercise Rim of the Pacific, a 29-country military exercise that will be led, for its naval component, by a Canadian commodore.
Beijing warns Philippines, Taiwan
Dong, formerly in charge of China’s navy, was shuffled into his current position six months ago, following the temporary “disappearance” of his predecessor, Li Shangfu, who was subsequently removed from office over alleged corruption.
Dong’s remarks at the Shangri-La Dialogue centred on Taiwan. He said that “anyone who dares to separate Taiwan from China will only end up in self-destruction,” and accused Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party of “emboldening independence separatists.” And although he didn’t name the Philippines, Dong accused “a certain country, emboldened by outside powers,” of endangering regional stability.
In a keynote speech, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. discussed his country’s South China Sea feud with Beijing, declaring that: “Filipinos do not yield.” Marcos Jr. seemingly etched out a ‘red line’ in that dispute, stating that if a Filipino citizen were killed in a “wilful act,” it would be “very, very close to … an act of war.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also attended the Shangri-La Dialogue. He criticized China for reportedly discouraging countries from attending an upcoming peace summit on the Russia-Ukraine war.
Indo-Pacific remains Washington’s ‘priority’: Austin
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told delegates that the U.S. regards the Indo-Pacific as “more vital than ever,” and stated that — despite conflicts in Europe and the Middle East — the region “has remained our priority theatre of operations.”
The day before Austin’s speech, South Korea, Japan, and the U.S. announced a new trilateral dialogue among vice foreign minister-level officials. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell reiterated that Washington’s commitments to defend Japan and South Korea are backed by “the full range of capabilities, including nuclear.”
