SINGAPORE (AP) — China’s rapid military modernization and assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific and growing concerns over American priorities are top issues on the table at Asia’s premier defense summit drawing leaders, top diplomats and security officials from around the world.The Shangri-La Dialogue, hosted by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, also comes as the Middle East is increasingly on edge as new attacks have threatened the tenuous ceasefire in the Iran war. Russia, meanwhile, has intensified its war on Ukraine.Vietnamese leader To Lam opens the conference Friday with a keynote address, while U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth starts Saturday’s session with remarks focused on the Trump administration’s Indo-Pacific strategy.
Vietnam navigates a delicate superpower balanceLam has consolidated his power in Vietnam this year, becoming both Communist Party general secretary and president of the strategically important Southeast Asian nation, departing from its tradition of shared leadership.Like several other countries in the region, Vietnam has competing maritime claims with Beijing that have led to confrontations, but at the same time is heavily tied economically to China, its biggest two-way trade partner.The U.S., meantime, is Vietnam’s largest export destination and has been seeking to make diplomatic inroads and expand defense contracts to try and pull some of that market away from Hanoi’s traditional partner, Russia.
