June 2nd 2004
Defence ministers and military chiefs from at least 20 Asian countries and major Western powers will gather in Singapore on Friday to listen to US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld outline Washington's security strategy for the region and its plans in Iraq, officials said.
Australia's Defence Minister Robert Hill is likely to be among staunch US allies attending the conference.
"This annual conference has proven to be an excellent opportunity for defence ministers in the region to work together in confronting regional security challenges such as terrorism and weapons of mass destruction," said Hill.
Rumsfeld is also likely to seek to pacify moderate Muslim countries Indonesia and Malaysia over reports that the United States is prepared to deploy elite troops in the Malacca Straits, a key waterway in between ports in Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
Rumsfeld is set to brief delegates on Saturday in a keynote speech entitled "The US Strategy in the Asia-Pacific," at the 3rd annual Asian Defence Ministers' dialogue here.
He also will hold a slew of bilateral meetings with key Asian nations on the war in Iraq, maritime security and Washington's continuing push to stop the underground nuclear arms network.
The three-day conference - also called the Shangri-la Dialogue after its hotel venue - begins Friday with more than 20 ministers expected to attend.
Rumsfeld may attempt to reassure some of Washington's staunchest Asian allies that the United States remains in control of events in Iraq, despite continuing violence against coalition forces there.
"Friends and allies of the Americans do not want to criticise them too harshly, but it is evident from the way that things are unfolding, that the United States has committed many tactical and strategic errors," said security analyst Andrew Tan at Singapore's Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies.
In an issue close to Singapore's heart, there is particular concern about a potential for a strike against commercial shipping along the Malacca Straits, a 900-kilometre waterway straddling Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore.
"His broad purpose is to try and dampen down the widespread anti-American feelings," said Michael Richardson, a journalist and security analyst at Singapore's Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies. "He would also try and cast the regional maritime security proposal in a less controversial context."
A quarter of the world's commerce and half of the world's oil supply pass through the straits each year. Ten million barrels of crude oil arrive from the Persian Gulf heading eastward daily toward China, South Korea and Japan.
Washington and Singapore both fear the straits are vulnerable to a terror strike and have called for increased patrols in the area.
Also on the agenda in the city-state could be the Proliferation Security Initiative, or PSI, which would permit US interdiction of missiles and other components of weapons of mass destruction at sea, in the air and on land.
