‘All in’: Austin defends US focus on Indo-Pacific amid global upheaval

SINGAPORE — U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin gave a legacy speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia’s premier security conference, defending the administration’s approach to the region in a world consumed by war in Europe and the Middle East.

His message was twofold.

First, the Pentagon under his tenure labeled China its pace setter and the U.S. has indeed kept pace. Austin has visited the Indo-Pacific 10 times as secretary and treated the region as a team sport.

In the last three years, the U.S. has expanded its number of security partners, deepened existing agreements and encouraged them to work more closely together. The leaders of Japan, India, South Korea and the Philippines have all visited Washington for defense-heavy summits. And Austin has visited Shangri-La every year in his tenure, except for a break in 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Second, Austin argued these teams here to stay. The buzzphrase in his speech was “a new convergence,” or that there’s a closer set of partners in the region for Washington because they have a closer set of interests. These small groups working together in the region, Austin argued, are replacing the old “hub and spoke” model in which the U.S. stood at the center of a surrounding set of partners.

His argument is in part an effort reassure countries in the region concerned that the structure is brittle, and could crack if former President Donald Trump returned to the White House.

“The progress that we’ve made together is going to last, not just for the next year, but for the next decade and beyond,” Austin said.

It’s also a message to Beijing, whose government chafes at the perception that other countries in the region are teaming up to contain it.

Austin cast himself as a figure of stability in contrast to the top Chinese official in attendance. Adm. Dong Jun is China’s third minister of national defense in three years, and a separate minister refused to meet with Austin during the conference last year. The choice reflected poorly on Beijing in a region concerned with peace, especially in the two superpower’s relationship.

Austin and Dong met on the sidelines of the conference — the first time the two countries’ top defense officials spoke in person in almost 18 months.

The U.S. and China both give speeches each year at the conference and paint the other as the cause of instability. Austin did so by referencing China’s aggression in the South China Sea and its recent exercises around Taiwan, an island Beijing considers a rogue breakaway province. China launched what it called a set of “punishment” drills after an inauguration speech by Taiwan’s new president , seen as more pro-independence than his predecessor by many in Beijing.

Austin reiterated the value of “the peaceful resolution of disputes through dialogue — and not coercion or conflict — and certainly not through so-called punishment.”

The speech notwithstanding, Austin entered this year’s conference facing crises around the world.

Ukraine is defending a fresh Russian advance on Kharkiv, which sits close to the border and where Ukrainian forces made their most stunning advances of the war in 2022.

And Israeli officials continue to say the war in Gaza may continue for at least another six months , testing the limits of America’s ability to respond to such a protracted crisis and also Washington’s patience in a war where the U.S. has said too many civilians are dying.

Austin referenced both conflicts in his speech but described them as secondary to the Pentagon’s focus on the Indo-Pacific. Given the election later this year, this could be his last visit to the conference as secretary. If that’s the case, said senior defense officials briefing reporters before the trip, he would leave the region stronger than it was when he started.

“All of these relationships are at a high watermark,” the official said, “and his leadership fingerprint is all over those.”

Noah Robertson is the Pentagon reporter at Defense News. He previously covered national security for the Christian Science Monitor. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English and government from the College of William & Mary in his hometown of Williamsburg, Virginia.

新加坡——美国国防部长劳埃德·奥斯汀在亚洲最重要的安全会议——香格里拉对话上发表了具有里程碑意义的演讲，捍卫了美国政府在当今世界因欧洲和中东战争而陷入困境的情况下对该地区采取的方针。

他的信息包含两方面。

首先，在他任职期间，五角大楼将中国视为领跑者，而美国也确实紧随其后。奥斯汀曾以国防部长的身份十次访问印太地区，并将该地区视为一个团队共同努力的目标。

过去三年，美国扩大了安全伙伴的数量，深化了现有协议，并鼓励它们加强合作。日本、印度、韩国和菲律宾的领导人都曾到访华盛顿，参加以防务为重点的峰会。奥斯汀在其任期内每年都访问香格里拉，仅在2021年因新冠疫情而中断。

其次，奥斯汀认为这些团队将会长期存在。他演讲中的关键词是“新的融合”，也就是说，华盛顿在该地区拥有更紧密的合作伙伴，因为他们的利益更为接近。奥斯汀认为，这些在该地区合作的小团体正在取代旧的“中心辐射”模式，在旧模式下，美国处于中心地位，周围环绕着一系列合作伙伴。

他的论点部分是为了安抚该地区那些担心当前体制脆弱、如果前总统唐纳德·特朗普重返白宫可能会崩溃的国家。

奥斯汀说：“我们共同取得的进步不仅会持续到明年，还会持续到未来十年甚至更久。”

这也是向北京发出的一个信号，中国政府对外界认为该地区其他国家正在联手遏制疫情的看法感到不满。

与出席会议的中国最高官员形成鲜明对比的是，奥斯汀将自己塑造成一位稳定的代表。董军海军上将是三年来中国第三位国防部长，而去年同期的会议期间，另一位国防部长拒绝与奥斯汀会面。在这样一个重视和平的地区，尤其是在中美两大超级大国关系日益密切的情况下，这一选择无疑损害了北京的形象。

奥斯汀和董在会议间隙会面——这是两国最高国防官员近 18 个月来首次面对面交谈。

美国和中国每年都会在会议上发表讲话，并将对方描绘成不稳定的根源。奥斯汀在讲话中提到了中国在南海的侵略行为以及近期在台湾周边举行的军事演习。北京方面将台湾视为一个独立的省份。在台湾新任总统发表就职演说后，中国启动了一系列被其称为“惩罚性”的军事演习。北京方面许多人认为，新任总统比其前任更倾向于台湾独立。

奥斯汀重申了“通过对话和平解决争端，而不是通过胁迫或冲突，当然更不是通过所谓的惩罚”的价值。

尽管奥斯汀发表了讲话，但他参加今年会议时仍面临着世界各地的危机。

乌克兰正在抵御俄罗斯对哈尔科夫的最新攻势，哈尔科夫位于边境附近，乌克兰军队在 2022 年战争中曾在此取得最惊人的进展。

以色列官员继续表示，加沙战争可能至少还会持续六个月，这将考验美国应对如此旷日持久的危机的能力极限，也考验华盛顿在这场战争中的耐心，因为美国表示，太多平民正在丧生。

奥斯汀在演讲中提到了这两场冲突，但他表示，与五角大楼对印太地区的关注相比，这两场冲突都属于次要问题。考虑到今年晚些时候将举行选举，这可能是他作为国防部长最后一次出席该会议。高级国防官员在出行前向记者通报情况时表示，如果真是如此，他将使该地区在他离开时比他来时更加强大。

这位官员说：“所有这些关系都处于巅峰状态，他的领导才能在这些关系中都得到了充分体现。”

诺亚·罗伯逊是《防务新闻》的五角大楼记者。他此前曾为《基督教科学箴言报》报道国家安全新闻。他拥有弗吉尼亚州威廉斯堡威廉与玛丽学院的英语和政治学学士学位。