01/06/2025

WORLD 7 ON SUNDAY JUNE 1, 2025 China bristles over Ukraine example SINGAPORE: China yesterday criticised as a “double standard” attempts to link the defence of Ukraine with the need to protect Taiwan from an invasion – a thinly veiled reference to a speech by French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday. As part of a broader address on the risks of division between China and the United States, Macron said that if Russia was allowed to take any part of Ukraine without constraint then “what could happen in Taiwan?” In a Facebook post, China’s embassy in Singapore said that comparing the Taiwan issue with the Ukraine issue is “unacceptable”. “The two are different in nature and not comparable at all,” the post said, saying that Taiwan was entirely an internal affair for China. “If one tries to denounce a ‘double standard’ with a double standard, the only result we can get is still a double standard,” the post said. The post did not mention Macron directly but it was accompanied by a photo of him. China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and has stepped up military and political pressure to assert those claims, including increasing the intensity of war games, saying the island is one of its provinces with no right to be called a state. Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims, saying only the island’s people can decide their future. Regional diplomats said that Macron’s comments were far from isolated during the freewheeling, informal meeting and risks of a Russian victory emboldening a Chinese invasion of Taiwan had at times surfaced in sideline discussions. “The message from many backing Ukraine is that the line must be held if a message is to be sent,” said an East Asian envoy. – Reuters ‘Tough love on defence better than no love’ SINGAPORE: The European Union’s diplomatic chief Kaja Kallas said yesterday the continent was beefing up defence spending after “tough love” from the Trump administration, as she called for stronger ties with the Asia-Pacific region. Kallas was responding to comments by US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, who called President Donald Trump’s insistence on more military spending “tough love”. “It’s love nonetheless. So it’s better than no love,” Kallas said when asked later about Hegseth’s speech. Trump consistently pressed Nato countries to increase defence spending, asking for as much as 5% of GDP and saying Washington will no longer tolerate freeloaders. Kallas said: “There are different countries in Europe and some of us have realised a long time ago that we need to invest in defence. It is a good thing we are doing more, but what I want to stress is that the security of Europe and the security of the Pacific is interlinked.” Kallas pointed to Ukraine, where North Korean soldiers were operating and China was providing military hardware to Russia. “I think again, if you are worried about China, you should be worried about Russia,” she said. The EU wanted to build “partnerships in our mutual interest” in the Asia-Pacific, including in the field of defence. “The European Union has shifted gear and reimagined our own paradigm as a peace project backed up with hard defence,” Kallas said. “We are fast becoming a global security partner.” Speaking earlier, Hegseth told delegates “we’re pushing our allies in Europe to own more of their own security to invest in their defence”. “Thanks to President Trump they are stepping up.” – AFP

Lee-Trump comparison irks Singaporeans

SINGAPORE: US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth rankled Singaporeans yesterday by likening President Donald Trump to the city-state’s late founding premier Lee Kuan Yew. In a speech outlining US strategy in the Asia-Pacific region, Hegseth referred to both leaders as “historic men”. “Like the late prime minister, President Trump’s approach is grounded in common sense and national interests,” he said at the Shangri-La Dialogue which gathers key defence leaders from around the world. Lee, a British-trained lawyer, served as prime minister for three decades. Hegseth praised his “sage leadership and strategic vision”. “That’s what common sense policies can achieve, and that’s precisely what President Trump’s vision is all about.” Social media erupted with acerbic criticism of Hegseth’s comparison. “One is historic, the other is hysteric,” said one commenter, while another remarked: “Trump compared to Lee Kuan Yew? That’s like saying instant noodles are the same as fine dining.” “I felt a tremor just now. Must be LKY rolling hard in his grave,” said someone else on social media, using Lee’s initials. Hegseth in his speech also warned that China was “credibly preparing” to use military force to upend the balance of power in Asia, vowing the United States was “here to stay” in the Indo Pacific region. “The threat China poses is real and it could be imminent,” Hegseth said. Beijing is “credibly preparing to potentially use military force to alter the balance of power in the Indo Pacific”, he said. He said the Chinese military was building capabilities to invade Taiwan US secretary of defence warns of threat Speaking on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue, Marles said that while China remains an important strategic partner to Australia, more open communication between the two nations is key to a “productive” relationship. “When you look at the growth in the Chinese military that has happened without a strategic reassurance, or a strategic transparency ... we would like to have a greater transparency in what China is seeking to do in not only its build up, but in exercises that it undertakes, said Marles. “We want to have the most productive relationship with China that we can have ... we hope that in the context of that productive relationship, we can see greater transparency and greater communication between our two countries in respect of our defence.” Both Australia and New Zealand raised concerns in February after three Chinese

Chinese military officials at the dialogue yesterday. – AFPPIC

Ministry officials to the summit, dispatching a delegation from the People’s Liberation Army National Defence University instead. Hegseth’s hard-hitting address drew a critical reaction from Chinese analysts at the conference. Da Wei, director of the Centre for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University told reporters the speech was “very unfriendly” and “very confrontational”, accusing Washington of double standards in demanding Beijing respect its neighbours while bullying its own, including Canada and Greenland. Former Senior Colonel Zhou Bo, from the Centre for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University, said training drills did not mean China would invade Taiwan, saying the government wanted “peaceful reunification”. – AFP

warships conducted unprecedented live fire drills in the Tasman Sea. Both nations complained of late notice over the drills by China, which led to the diversion of 49 commercial flights. Marles said that while the drills were in accordance with international law, China should have been less disruptive. He also said Australia was able to closely scrutinise the Chinese task-force. “It’s fair to say that this was done in a bigger way than they have done before, but equally, that was meant from our point of view, by a much greater degree of surveillance than we’ve ever done. “From the moment that Chinese warships came within the vicinity of Australia, they were being tailed and tracked by Australian assets ... we were very clear about what exercises China was undertaking and what capability they were seeking to exercise and to build.” Chinese officials have signalled that more such exercises could be expected as it was routine naval activity in international waters. – Reuters and “rehearsing for the real deal”. Beijing has ramped up military pressure on Taiwan and held large-scale exercises around the island, often described as preparations for a blockade or invasion. The United States was “reorienting towards deterring aggression by communist China”, Hegseth said, calling on US allies and partners in Asia to swiftly upgrade their defences in the face of mounting threats. Hegseth described China’s conduct as a “wake-up call”, accusing Beijing of endangering lives with cyber attacks, harassing its neighbours, and “illegally seizing and militarising lands” in the South China Sea. “China’s assertiveness in the South China Sea has only increased in recent years,” said Casey Mace, charge d’affaires at the US embassy. Beijing has not sent any top Defence

Call for more transparency SINGAPORE: Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles yesterday urged greater transparency from China over its military modernisation and deployments.

Kallas (white dress) at a press conference with other EU officials. – AFPPIC