U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates began a six-day tour of Pacific countries Thursday, focusing on regional security and U.S. commitments to the area.
His tour includes delivering a keynote address at the International Institute of Strategic Studies' Asia Security Summit in Singapore, billed as a "big security fest in East Asia," the Defense Department said in a release.
29 May 2008: UPI
SINGAPORE, May 29 (UPI) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates began a six-day tour of Pacific countries Thursday, focusing on regional security and U.S. commitments to the area.
His tour includes delivering a keynote address at the International Institute of Strategic Studies' Asia Security Summit in Singapore, billed as a "big security fest in East Asia," the Defense Department said in a release.
Gates' address Saturday will re-state longstanding U.S. commitments to the region, regardless of who wins the U.S. presidential election in November, the Pentagon said.
The speech "transcends the immediate and looks at the enduring," one official said. Among other things, Gates will address changes within the Asia-Pacific theater, including the emergence of China and India as major world powers.
Gates is scheduled to meet privately with Chinese Lt. Gen. M.A. Xiatian, deputy chief of general staff for the People's Liberation Army, while at the conference. He also is scheduled to visit Guam, Thailand and South Korea.
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