US Allies Stress Need for Global Unity 06/01 06:35

   American allies stressed the need for unity at a top defense conference 
Sunday, saying that as threats increasingly transcend regions, cooperation is 
more important than ever, even as Washington has become more critical of its 
traditional friends.

   SINGAPORE (AP) -- American allies stressed the need for unity at a top 
defense conference Sunday, saying that as threats increasingly transcend 
regions, cooperation is more important than ever, even as Washington has become 
more critical of its traditional friends.

   U.S. President Donald Trump has been extremely harsh about NATO, and the 
comments at the Shangri-La conference came the day after U.S. Defense Secretary 
Pete Hegseth again chided Western European allies at the forum for not devoting 
enough resources to defense.

   Japan pushes for unity, saying it strengthens deterrence

   Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi praised Hegseth for his 
commitment to the Indo-Pacific, but at the same time stressed the continued 
need for strong coalitions globally.

   "Division weakens deterrence, unity strengthens deterrence," he told the 
conference, hosted by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

   "If gaps emerge among the United States, Europe, and allies and like-minded 
countries, forces which take it as an opportunity will surely come in," he 
said. "We must prevent such a situation. We must keep our cooperation going on. 
Now is the time to make our cooperation even stronger."

   Philippines, Japan remain critical of China despite softer US approach

   As China has been rapidly expanding and modernizing its military, Japan has 
been reshaping its own defense policy. Last month, Prime Minister Sanae 
Takaichi's Cabinet scrapped a ban on lethal weapons exports, a major change in 
its postwar pacifist policy.

   China criticized the change, with Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun 
saying China would "resolutely resist Japan's reckless moves toward a new type 
of militarism."

   Koizumi scoffed at that accusation as ironic, coming from China.

   "Think about it, there is a country that has a huge arsenal of nuclear 
weapons and strategic bombers," he said, speaking in English. "Japan has 
neither of such weapons, and yet Japan is labeled new militarism. Isn't it 
strange?"

   He said that transparency comes from "discussion and dialogue" and lamented 
that China had not sent its defense minister to the conference.

   At this year's conference, Hegseth toned down his comments from the previous 
year on China, when he had warned of rapidly developing threats from Beijing 
and cautioned it was "actively training" for a possible invasion of Taiwan.

   This year's conference came only about two weeks after U.S. President Donald 
Trump visited Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing, however, where Hegseth said 
the two had agreed to "build a constructive relationship of strategic 
stability." His comments were met with praise from China's delegation in 
Singapore.

   On Sunday, Philippines Defense Minister Gilberto Teodoro Jr., whose country 
has clashed repeatedly over competing maritime claims with China, told a small 
group of reporters that he wasn't concerned with the change in tone from his 
most important ally.

   "The situation with the United States is different than that from the 
Philippines," he said. "They can talk to China that way in a position of 
parity, if not superiority, while the Philippines cannot."

   He added, however, that he had no intention of following suit.

   "If China doesn't change its behavior, my tone won't change," he said.

   Australia defends need for rules-based approach to defense

   In his speech Saturday, Hegseth applauded many Asian partners for their 
efforts to step-up defense spending, while reiterating criticism of European 
allies, who he suggested got "distracted by empty globalist rhetoric about the 
rules-based international order, while European capitals threw open their 
borders and hollowed out their militaries."

   "You can have all the rules you want and rules are great," Hegseth said. 
"But if you can't back them up with hard power, the rules are not worth the 
paper they are written on."

   Many NATO countries failed for years to meet alliance defense spending 
commitments, but since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, many dramatically 
increased military expenditures and plan more in the future.

   Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the conference Sunday, Australian 
Defense Minister Richard Marles, said he agreed with Hegseth's point that "the 
rules based order needs to be underpinned by power," but at the same time said 
strong rules were "more important today than they have ever been."

   "We are all committed to a rules based system, because that is actually what 
gives middle powers like Australia or smaller countries agency," he said.

   He also said alliances remain critical to the region's defense.

   "This is a collective challenge and it demands a collective response, which 
is actually what the rules based order is all about," he said.

   Dutch defense minister pushes for shared response to global conflicts

   Netherlands Defense Minister Dilan Yesilgz-Zegerius said the current 
conflicts have global implications and demand a shared response.

   "A war in Europe involves drones from Iran, soldiers and ammunition from 
North Korea and various types of support from China," she said. "The lesson is 
clear: regional tensions are no longer regional. Our security is 
interconnected."

   She said that if middle powers do not work together, they risk becoming 
spectators or the "subject of conversations," but with coalitions they can help 
preserve stability.

   "The fact that international rules are being violated does not mean we 
should abandon them," she said.

   "On the contrary, it means we must defend them more constantly and more 
courageously. International law may be imperfect, but history teaches us that 
the alternative is far worse."