Shangri-La Dialogue: Austin touts more 'agile and resilient' US presence in Southeast Asia to fight China's 'coercion'

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin on Saturday promoted a vision of a more "agile and resilient" shared defence strategy with Southeast Asia in a crucial region where Washington is vying with Beijing for influence.

Speaking in Singapore at the Shangri-La Dialogue security forum, Austin said the "historic strides" represented by a deal to use more Philippine military bases showed the US commitment to the region, which is in China's backyard.

"The United States is working together with our friends more closely every day," he said.

Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.

"We're working closely with our allies to upgrade our force posture in the region. We're making our presence more distributed, more agile, and more resilient. And that will bring greater stability and security to the region."

The Philippines in April said it would give the US access to four additional bases near the Taiwan Strait and the disputed South China Sea, bringing the number of military sites Washington could use in the country to nine.

Analysts noted Austin's diplomatic blitz to reach out to Southeast Asian leaders was aimed at driving home the message that the US was an earnest partner ready to help countries fight against China's "coercion".

The Pentagon chief also held an informal meeting on Friday with 10 Southeast Asian defence leaders on the sidelines of the conference, where he reaffirmed the Biden administration's "strong support and commitment" to the region.

The US would "continue its engagement with the Southeast Asia region to enhance defence cooperation among the countries", Singapore's defence ministry quoted Austin as saying.

He separately met with Singapore's defence minister Ng Eng Hen and Indonesia's Prabowo Subianto as the US boosts efforts to build trust and confidence with countries in the region.

Singapore's defence ministry added Austin discussed geopolitical developments in the Asia-Pacific region with Ng, and the two leaders "agreed on the importance of the US' continued engagement".

"They exchanged views on ways to build a robust, open and inclusive regional architecture, with the US reaffirming their contributions to defence capacity-building," it said.

"Austin's call underscores the excellent and long-standing bilateral defence relationship and the mutually-beneficial partnership between Singapore and the US."

Prabowo told This Week In Asia following his meeting with Austin that Indonesia has "very good relations" with the US.

"We had a very good meeting ... I think we want to continue the close cooperation," he said.

The minister declined to comment when asked if China was discussed but observers said Beijing's growing clout in the region would likely be part of the conversation.

Dylan Loh, an assistant professor in foreign policy at Nanyang Technological University, said China would "invariably feature" in discussions but stressed that the talks would not have been unidirectional.

"I am sure others will impress upon him that they do not want to see the US-China competition spiral out of control," he said.

Countries in Southeast Asia have maintained that they did not want to have to choose between the US and China as the rivalry between the two world powers deepens over issues including Taiwan and curbs on cutting-edge chips. Most countries have strong trade ties with Beijing and relied on Washington for regional security.

Yongwook Ryu, an assistant professor at the National University of Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, suggested that Austin would have raised issues surrounding the South China Sea and heightened tensions in the Taiwan Strait during his talks with the region's military leaders.

Beijing claims sovereignty over almost the entire resource-rich waterway, where several other nations, including the Philippines and Vietnam, have competing claims.

Manila has in recent months filed multiple diplomatic protests over the presence of Chinese ships in the contested sea, including a near-collision between a Philippine patrol vessel and a Chinese coastguard ship near a disputed shoal in April.

The Philippines also took a veiled dig at Beijing during a panel discussion on Saturday.

Defence Secretary Carlito Galvez Jnr pointed out that "good fences make good neighbours, as it is only when neighbours have clear boundaries and respect for set boundaries will the relationship be genuinely amicable".

To Ryu, Austin would have conveyed that Southeast Asian nations "needed to be on board to maintain and promote regional peace and stability", and assured his counterparts that the US was a "genuine partner" who cared about the region.

Austin would have also used the chance to stress that China was "a source of regional instability and all need to work together to establish and maintain a rules-based order" after he called out Beijing's risky intercepts of US and allied aircraft in his Saturday speech.

He added the US would "support our allies and partners as they defend themselves against coercion and bullying".

Chong Ja Ian, professor of political science at the National University of Singapore, said Austin's bilateral meetings with regional leaders was about maintaining good ties with the region.

Undoubtedly, he noted that China would do the same but at least for Washington, it needed to maintain access to Southeast Asia.

Ryu said that countries would likely be receptive to Washington's efforts to strengthen cooperation in the region.

"Southeast Asian countries have different perceptions and interests when it comes to these two powers so both will win support with some and fail to win support with some," the academic said.

"The biggest achievement the US can have is to bring Asean countries - as many of them as possible - on the same page [regarding] regional strategic assessment and sources of instability," he said, referring to the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations bloc.

Austin, who is set to continue his meetings with other key regional leaders on Saturday, also signalled that the Pentagon would double down on its alliances and partnerships, including ramping up its cooperation with countries in the South China Sea.

Additional reporting by Su-Lin Tan

This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

Copyright (c) 2023. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.