The key ministers of the world’s two largest military powers are due to discuss over the weekend. Major power tensions and the corona crisis have prevented previous meetings.
The luxurious Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore has hosted several international summits.
U.S. politicians in particular favor it when traveling in Asia. President Donald Trump met there exactly four years ago with a North Korean leader Kim Jong-unin.
Singapore’s sandy beach with its luxury terraces is now also invited by the Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austiniawho is attending the Shangri-La Dialogue on Defense this weekend.
The hotel is located on an isolated island, making it particularly suitable for bilateral high-level meetings. Austin is scheduled to face his Chinese counterpart during the conference Wei Fenghe.
It usually means that some sort of meeting is taking place. Wei met with the then U.S. Secretary of Defense at the same conference in 2019 Patrick Shanahanin.
Biden corrected his statements
The distances between the countries are tense.
Russia’s attack on Ukraine has added to the question of whether China could do the same for Taiwan. At no point has China accepted the island nation founded in 1949, but considers it its own province.
Biden later clarified that U.S. policy on Taiwan has not changed. Until now, its principle has been that the United States does not send troops to defend Taiwan.