Forum seeking ways to de-escalate regional tensions

SINGAPORE – The Philippines – along with other nations – hopes to thresh out ways of de-escalating tensions in the South China Sea at a defense summit here to be keynoted by President Marcos, Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro said yesterday.

Also expected to attend today’s 21st International Institute for Strategic Studies Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia’s largest defense conference, are China’s Minister of National Defense Admiral Dong Jun and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd James Austin III, among other key defense officials from various countries.

“Let me put forward that the International Institute for Strategic Studies Shangri-La Dialogue is a vital venue to discuss and debate divergent positions on numerous issues, critical challenges, and emerging concerns,” Teodoro said. Marcos is expected to deliver his keynote address at 8 pm.

“Most important, however, we are all here to collectively manage, mitigate, and to reinvigorate the process of de-escalating regional and international tensions,” he said, apparently referring to the country’s spat with China over the latter’s aggressiveness in asserting its claim in the South China Sea.

“For my part, with the Shangri-La Dialogue considered as one of the most significant security and defense gatherings in Asia, I will reiterate and discuss further the President’s policies and pronouncements on security and defense matters during my engagements with various senior government officials, policymakers, scholars, and Dialogue participants,” Teodoro said.

He explained that the defense conference “is an excellent platform, under the guidance of President Marcos Jr., to amplify the Philippines’ national interest and positions on regional and international security and defense challenges.”

“I will be meeting with my various counterparts and senior government officials on the fringes of the Shangri-La Dialogue 2024, where we will be engaging in discussions of strategic concerns between our countries,” he said.

More than 550 delegates from the defense and security establishments of more than 40 nations around the world are expected to attend the event at the Shangri-La Hotel here.

Previous keynote speakers included Singaporean