SINGAPORE: China and North Korea鈥檚 support for Russia in its war against Ukraine has exposed how lines between regions have blurred, and the need for a global approach toward defense, top security officials said Sunday.
North Korea has sent troops to fight on the front lines in Ukraine, while China has supported Russia economically and technologically while opposing international sanctions.
Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovil臈 艩akalien臈 told delegates at the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia鈥檚 premiere defense forum, that if Ukraine were to fall, it would have a ripple effect in Asia and suggested it could embolden China in its territorial claims on Taiwan and virtually the entire South China Sea.
鈥淚f Russia prevails in Ukraine, it鈥檚 not about Europe. It鈥檚 not about one region,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t will send a very clear signal also to smaller states here in Indo-Pacific that anyone can ignore their borders, that any fabricated excuse can justify invasion.鈥�
The comments echoed those from French President Emmanuel Macron as he opened the conference on Friday advocating for greater European engagement in the Indo-Pacific.
On Saturday, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth suggested European countries should focus their defense efforts in their own region and leave the Indo-Pacific more to the US, but 艩akalien臈 said the regions were clearly intertwined.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not a secret that when we talk about the main perpetrators in cybersecurity against Japan it鈥檚 China, Russia and North Korea,鈥� she said.
鈥淲hen we talk about main cybersecurity perpetrators against Lithuania it鈥檚 Russia, China and Belarus 鈥� two out of the three are absolutely the same.鈥�
She added that 鈥渢he convergence of Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea into an increasingly coordinated authoritarian axis,鈥� demands a unified response. Iran has been a key supplier of attack drones to Russia for its war effort.
鈥淚n this context, the United States鈥� strategic focus on Indo-Pacific is both justified and necessary, but this is not America鈥檚 responsibility alone,鈥� she said.
Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles told reporters on the sidelines that his main takeaway from the three-day conference, hosted by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, was the 鈥渞eal intent in the way in which European countries have engaged鈥� in the debates.
鈥淚t reflects the sense of connection, interconnectedness ... between Indo-Pacific on the one hand and the North Atlantic on the other,鈥� he said.
China sent a lower-level delegation from its National Defense University this year to the conference, but its Foreign Ministry on Sunday responded to comments from Hegseth that Beijing was destabilizing the region and preparing to possibly seize Taiwan by force.
鈥淣o country in the world deserves to be called a hegemonic power other than the US itself, who is also the primary factor undermining the peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific,鈥� it said, while reiterating its stance that the Taiwan issue was an internal Chinese matter.
鈥淭he US must neve play with fire on this question,鈥� the ministry said.
Philippines Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr, whose country has been involved in increasingly violent clashes with China over competing claims in the South China Sea, scoffed at the idea that the US was the problem.
鈥淲hat the Chinese government considers fair and just may stand in stark contrast to the norms and values accepted by the rest of the world, especially the smaller countries,鈥� he said.
鈥淭o envision a China-led international order, we only need to look at how they treat their much smaller neighbors in the South China Sea.鈥�
He also underscored the international implications of the tensions in the Indo-Pacific, noting that the South China Sea was one of several maritime routes that are 鈥渁rteries of the global economy.鈥�
鈥淒isruption in any of these maritime corridors triggers ripple effects across continents, impacting trade flows, military deployments, and diplomatic posture,鈥� he said.