Opinion | Shangri-La Dialogue shows US-China rivalry extends far beyond Asia

The Shangri-La Dialogue is often cited as Asia’s premier security conference, but the Singapore gathering can no longer afford to focus exclusively on the Indo-Pacific’s geopolitical challenges. This year’s gathering – attended by defence officials, government leaders and diplomats from around the world – tackled issues but also highlighted divisions among the participants beyond East Asia to Europe and the Middle East.

Much of the three-day forum centred on tensions between the United States and China. If the US and Chinese came to the conference intending to stabilise the increasing strategic competition between them, the conference showed that their rivalry extended into the complex and tangled security landscape well beyond Asia.

The unannounced appearance of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky highlighted the acute security challenges in Ukraine as it faces Russia’s aggression. Zelensky implored Asian countries to participate in a coming peace summit to be hosted by Switzerland in mid-June that aims to forge a common vision of a settlement to present to Moscow.

For his part, China’s new defence minister, Admiral Dong Jun, used his speech to claim that China “has been promoting peace talks with a responsible attitude” and to deny charges that it allows the export of dual-use items to Russia’s war machine.

The Middle East crisis was also a focus of the conference. In his address, Indonesian President-elect Prabowo Subianto spoke about Israel’s invasion of Gaza, expressing concern about the humanitarian disaster. He also called for a ceasefire and a two-state solution.